I did ask the AP sales rep if he could allocate a 15202 for me and how long it will take. He told me that he could and that it will take 3-4 months. I am however not a fan of the 15202 due to the delicate movement.
On a side note, T, for the sake of education can you help me with the following questions please?
1. Does the original 15202 and the the current one have the same movement?
2. Visually are the dials the same color for both the vintage and modern 15202?
3. What are the other differences besides the datewheel color?
I never did research on the 15202 and figured that I can just ask someone with much better knowledge than me in the model. Thank you kindly! Beautiful 15202 franken btw!
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You Sir are an esteemed AP client and I bet they could shorten any waiting list timeframe for you. Here in Europe the waiting times tend to be much longer, particularly if one is not an established client. Anyway. I too once thought the 15202 reference to be too odd and small sized but it takes a little day-to-day wearing to fall in love with it.
In terms of your questions:
1. The original 5402 used exactly the same movement as the modern 15202. Cal 2121 was developed in the late 60ies by I think JLC and was used by AP as cal 2121, PP as cal 28-255 and VC as cal 1121. Later on AP acquired the exclusive rights to the movement and they still use it unchanged. I’m aware of some minor modifications to the balance wheel and setting lever but nothing else. I’m no watchmaker though so I might be mistaken;
2. The dial colour changed quite dramatically over time. The new 15202 (post 2014) is a rather dull dark blue that radiates in direct sunlight. The original 5402 blue was more vibrant dybamic blue from what I’ve seen. But of course there are many variations over the years as with any dial colour. One particularity I’ve discovered in my research on the 5402 ans 15202 models is that the Beast dial tapisserie and colour of a given year always follows the Jumbo tapisserie pattern and colour hues. That’s what made me interested in the Beast at the beginning. For instance the 25th anniversary dial is 1:1 to the modern 15202 in terms of tapisserie size and colour.
3. I’m only aware of a slightly increased thickness as the 5402’s 7-ish mm monobloc construction was gradually transformed to the 8mm 15202 using an open caseback. And then again there are variations - some 15202 are monobloc even with the display caseback.
