Audemars Piguet serial numbers, and how to read an AP correctly.
Every Audemars Piguet carries two engraved numbers, a case number and a movement number. Together they let AP confirm when a watch was made and whether it is genuine. This guide shows where to find them, what they can and cannot tell you, and the authoritative way to date and verify your watch.
AP does not publish official dating tables, but the series letter maps to an approximate production period, and the chart below covers them. For an exact date, the brand matches both numbers against its own archive, so treat any year you read off the serial as a range, not a confirmed date.
Last updated June 2026 · maintained by MODA Watches
Can you date an Audemars Piguet by its serial number?
Approximately, yes. AP has never published an official dating table, but the letter that begins the serial maps to a rough production period, and the chart on this page covers them. For an exact date, the brand compares the case number and movement number against its private archive. The authoritative routes are an official Extract of the Archives or a serial check against the brand database, both of which return the factory record tied to your exact numbers.
Where to find the case and movement numbers
An AP carries two numbers, and you usually need both. Where they sit depends on the reference and the year, so a loupe or a zoomed phone camera helps.
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The case number
Caseback or between the lugs
Depending on the reference, the case number is engraved on the caseback or between the lugs. It identifies the case AP fitted to the watch and is the first number the brand reads when dating a piece.
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The movement number
On the movement
A separate number is engraved on the movement itself. AP compares the case number and the movement number together against its archive, so both matter when confirming a production date and authenticity.
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Royal Oak, the changing layout
From the exterior to a single number
On the Royal Oak, from 1990 both numbers appeared on the exterior caseback. Since the late 2010s only the large case number is shown on the outside, so on a recent Royal Oak do not expect to see both numbers on the back.
What the numbers can and cannot tell you
Since the mid-1970s, AP serials begin with a letter followed by digits, and that letter maps to an approximate production period. The chart in the next section lines the series letters up with rough year ranges. What the letter will not give you is an exact year: the ranges are approximate and they overlap, because AP ran new series alongside older ones, so a serial places a watch in a span of years rather than on a date.
What the numbers can do is anchor an inquiry. Read together, the case and movement numbers are what AP matches against its archive to return an exact production date and to confirm the watch is genuine. On their own they place a watch in a broad era. Matched against the brand record, they place it in a year.
A letter prefix points to an approximate period, not an exact date. The charts here are compiled from observed production data, not an official AP source, so use them as a guide and confirm the real date against the brand archive.
Series letters and movement numbers, by approximate year
AP does not publish official dating tables, but decades of observed production data line the series letters up with rough year ranges. Use these to place a watch in a period, not to fix an exact date. The ranges overlap on purpose, because AP introduced new series while older ones were still running. For the exact production date, the case and movement numbers go to the Extract of the Archives.
Case serial, by series
| Series | Approximate years |
|---|---|
| 101 to 105393 | 1951 to 1976 |
| B series | 1975 to 1990 |
| C series | 1984 to 1995 |
| D series | 1991 to 2000 |
| E series | 1998 to 2010 |
| F series | 2003 to 2010 |
| G series | 2009 to 2015 |
| H series | 2011 to 2015 |
| I series | 2013 to 2020 |
| J series | 2015 to 2020 |
| K series and later | 2017 onward, randomized and no longer date-coded |
Approximate ranges from observed production data, not an official AP source. The letter system began in the mid-1970s. Before 1951 the serial matched the movement number, and from the K series in 2017 AP switched to randomized characters that do not encode a year.
Movement number, by approximate year
| Years | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s to 1889 | 2,000 | 4,500 |
| 1890 to 1899 | 4,000 | 6,500 |
| 1900 to 1909 | 6,000 | 14,000 |
| 1910 to 1919 | 11,000 | 27,000 |
| 1920 to 1929 | 23,000 | 42,000 |
| 1930 to 1939 | 41,000 | 45,000 |
| 1940 to 1949 | 44,000 | 60,000 |
| 1950 to 1959 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
| 1960 to 1969 | 72,000 | 120,000 |
| 1970 to 1979 | 110,000 | 230,000 |
| 1980 to 1989 | 220,000 | 350,000 |
| 1990 to 1999 | 330,000 | 490,000 |
| 2000 to 2009 | 475,000 | 750,000 |
| 2010 to 2017 | 700,000 | 999,999 |
Movement numbers run sequentially. After 999,988, AP moved to an alphanumeric format starting at AA0001. These are approximate guides, so confirm the exact date against the brand's archive.
How to date and verify an AP
Because the serial alone will not give you a year, the trustworthy routes all run the numbers against a record. There are three.
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01
Order the Extract of the Archives
AP's official Extract of the Archives is the authoritative document for dating a watch. You order it with the serial number, and it returns the production details AP holds on that exact piece. This is the brand's own record, straight from the source.
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02
Match the serial to the papers
The serial must exactly match the warranty card or Certificate of Authenticity that came with the watch. A mismatch between the engraving and the papers is a problem, no matter how clean either looks on its own.
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03
Run a serial check against the brand database
A brand-database serial check returns the factory record tied to your numbers without waiting on a mailed document. It is the fastest way to confirm a watch matches what AP shipped before you commit to a deal.
Authenticity is a separate question from dating. Genuine AP engraving is precise and clean, and the serial must match the papers, but a valid serial on its own does not prove a watch is real. Real serial numbers get copied onto fakes, which is exactly why matching against the brand record matters.
A clean engraving is not proof. The factory record is.
MODA's Serial Check covers Audemars Piguet and returns the factory record from the brand database, tied to your case and movement numbers. Before you wire money on an AP, or before you sell one, that record tells you whether the watch matches what the brand shipped. A valid serial can sit on a fake or a stolen watch, so checking the number against the source is the step that protects the deal.
Selling instead of buying? MODA buys and sells Audemars Piguet. Get an offer on your AP, or track live market prices on MODA-lytics before you decide.
Common questions
What people ask about Audemars Piguet serial numbers, answered plainly.
Source: the series-letter and movement-number ranges are compiled from published production data and are approximate, with overlaps between series. The definitive record for any individual watch is Audemars Piguet's Extract of the Archives.