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The answer to that question is simple: everyone. What I mean with this is that there are two very distinct groups of luxury watch purchasers: the collector and the basic “watch fan.” The collector is the man who spent the past 15 years residing on TimeZone along with also the PuristS, the kind of man who hears the title Walt Odets and understands exactly who I’m talking about. The collector is the type of man who understands the distinction between hand polished and handmade. He’s gotten well past the point of arguing about brands and knows enough to discuss individual projects. He reveres Patek Philippe for exactly what it meant to watches within the last 100 decades, understands the importance and appeal of vintage Rolex, but purchases just what talks to him. A watch lover, on the other hand, is someone who may be a little newer to high-end watches, and is still very brand conscious. Both purchase watches from Audemars Piguet, but likely different models, and certainly for different reasons.Let’s start with the collector. The collector buys Audemars Piguet Watches Used Replica due to its own history in great complicated pocketwatches. The collector buys AP because when Patek Philippe needed some assistance on the complex repeater of this Henry Graves Jr.. Supercomplication, it turned out to AP. The collector buys AP due to watches like this, this, and this.

Historically a favourite complication of Audemars Piguet, the perpetual calendar was the centrepiece of the brand’s SIHH 2018 line-up with the Royal Oak RD#2 Perpetual Calendar, now the world’s thinnest.

Just 6.3mm high (in the Royal Oak case at that; perhaps slimmer in a round, knife edge case), with the movement thickness 2.89mm, the Royal Oak RD#2 is the slimmest perpetual calendar on the market by quite some margin.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak RD#2 Perpetual 4

Most slim perpetual calendar watches hover around the 8mm mark, case and all. The Vacheron Overseas Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar is 8.1mm, while the Patek Philippe ref. 5940 is 8.48mm.

AP’s representatives repeated several times the cal. 5133 inside the RD#2 was akin to turning a three-storey house into a single floor, though technical specifics were short.

Rather than a revamp of the fundamentals of the perpetual calendar, the movement’s constructors slimmed and simplified each part of the movement, while laying out the calendar display in the most mechanically concise manner possible. The cal. 5133 is made up of 256 parts, compared to 374 parts in AP’s cal. 5134, or the 275 in Patek Philippe’s cal. 240Q.

That also means some of the calendar mechanism is spread out, rather than stacked up, explaining the relatively large 32mm, or 14 3/4 lignes, diameter of the movement. That’s quite a bit larger than the conventionally constructed and thicker AP cal. 5134 that’s 29mm, or 12 3/4 lignes, wide.

The automatic base of the cal. 5133 is derived from the cal. 2120, the longstanding thin movement found in the Royal Oak “Jumbo”. Highly regarded as a sophisticated construction that has remained in production for over 50 years, the movement was originally the Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 920 and also supplied to Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. One of the most distinctive features taken from the cal. 2120 is the support ring for the rotor to minimise wobbling and stress on the short pivot.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak RD#2 Perpetual 2

Like the cal. 2120, the cal. 5133 also minimises the components needed on the dial-side of the movement, utilising a hanging barrel for instance. That means the dial also serves as a main plate of sorts, helping to secure the parts in place.

Despite the significant technical advances inside the watch, the outside looks and feels very much like a classic Royal Oak, meaning it’s angular, refined and sharply finished. It is a departure from the aggressively styling of AP’s other concept watches, the Royal Oak Supersonnerie and Laptimer Michael Schumacher.

AP Royal Oak #RD2 perpetual calendar 2

The case is 41mm in diameter, but hefty despite being slim, due to the platinum case and bracelet. And though it’s almost a quarter thinner than the ordinary Royal Oak perpetual calendar, the decrease in height is not dramatically obvious on the wrist, perhaps because the watch was already thin to start with.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak RD#2 Perpetual 3

The dial is typical Royal Oak, dark blue with a chequerboard tapisserie guilloche. A casual observer would be hard pressed to distinguish between the RD#2 and an ordinary perpetual, though the differences are obvious, most prominently with the raised position of the sub-dials at three and nine.

AP Royal Oak #RD2 perpetual calendar 3

AP Royal Oak #RD2 perpetual calendar 1

Price and availability

The Royal Oak RD#2 Perpetual Calendar (ref. 26586PT.OO.1240PT.01) is still a concept watch, with pricing and availability yet to be announced.


 

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Today, watches such as the Royal Oak perpetual calendar skeleton (a benchmark in AP’s collection and among the best perpetuals on the current market, in my estimation), the Royal Oak Equation of Time, the revolutionary Chron-AP, and this Millenary Minute Repeater prove that AP is certainly a top-tier manufacture. AP’s in-house self-winding caliber 3120, located inside the fundamental Royal Oak 15400, can also be one of the finest base movements on earth. All these are the things that keep AP pertinent to “real” watch lovers that sometimes get lost in the buzz around the other kinds of AP buyers.And then there is your typical well-to-do watch buyer. To mepersonally, the best analogy for this other kind of AP purchaser is advised via a singular scene in one episode of a single television series that was popular for a period of time some years back. I’m speaking about Entourage, and I bet the great majority of you understand exactly to which scene I am referring.Ari Gold receives a good gold Royal Oak chronograph (not as the watch I’ll review down below) by his then-soon-to-be boss, who explains it as “One of the best watches in the world.” The camera then pans to the solid gold watch in its box, and Ari is in disbelief about the gift — and thus, AP is introduced to a whole group of potential new customers, the men who see Entourage. From this moment on, you see a number of the characters on the show wearing APs. Many at the time believed Audemars Piguet Watches Vintage Replica had paid for the positioning, but in discussions with AP over time, it was disclosed to me not just one dollar was exchanged. Rather, a particular manufacturer on the show was a massive AP client, and insisted it be a Royal Oak presented to Ari. Entourage did a lot for AP, but it was not this 1 positioning that defines the “other” type of AP customer. It does give you a good idea of where AP is a favorite, and that is in Hollywood, music, and sports, with the youthful and moneyed.

In a striking departure from the original design, Audemars Piguet just unveiled the Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph, in an aggressive restyling for the 25th anniversary of its iconic oversized sports watch. Excepting the Royal Oak Concept of 2002, the 25th anniversary Offshore is arguably the most radical reimagining of the octagonal design to date.

Slated to mark its birthday next year, the Royal Oak Offshore was introduced in 1993, itself a commemorative model meant to mark the 20th anniversary of the Royal Oak. Designed by a Emmanuel Gueit, now an independent designer whose greatest triumph was the Offshore, the watch was a beefed up, 42mm version of the slim, original Royal Oak, making it almost abnormally large for the era. While it was met with criticism from the industry – Royal Oak designer Gerald Genta reputedly disliked it – the Offshore grew to become one of the most influential watches in contemporary watchmaking, surpassing the Royal Oak in pop cultural significance.

In the early to mid 2000s the Offshore was arguably the hottest watch of the era, acquiring a cult status among celebrities and athletes, especially in the United States, with over 120 iterations and special limited editions, including versions dedicated to Jay-Z, Arnold Schwarzenegger and LeBron James.

AP Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph

The Offshore undergone slight tweaks over the years – once in 2006 and again in 2014 – but never to the extent undertaken with the new Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph. Slated for an official launch at SIHH 2018, it is both edgy and open-worked, gaining a menacing profile thanks to an entirely redesigned dial, movement and bezel.

While the complications and movement are based on an existing model (the refs. 26388PO & 26288OR), the anniversary model is defined by a new bezel. The famous octagonal bezel was slimmed down and hollowed out around the exposed screw heads (which are actually nuts as Royal Oak fans will know). In turn, the dial has been reduced to a series of eight skeletonised bridges that are secured by the eight nuts. Four of the largest bridges secure each of the twin barrels, as well as the tourbillon.

Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph 3

AP Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph 4

While the case has retained its signature style, subtle changes have given it a more athletic profile. The bevels on the flanks of the lugs are wider and more pronounced, for instance. It measures 45mm in diameter, and is available in both stainless steel and pink gold.

And as with the second generation Offshore chronograph, the crown and pushpieces are now in black ceramic instead of rubber-coated metal. On the steel model the pushpiece guards are titanium, while while the gold version they are in pink gold.

Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph 2

While the cal. 2947 movement inside is new, it is a variant of the existing cal. 2933. It is hand-wound, with both an integrated column wheel chronograph and tourbillon regulator, as well as double barrels that offer a seven-day power reserve.

Price and Availability

Limited to 50 pieces each, Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph in stainless steel (ref. 26421ST.OO.A002CA.01) is priced at SFr275,000 and the pink gold (ref. 26421OR.OO.A002CA.01) at SFr310,000; prices exclude taxes.


 

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The pink or white gold bracelet versions have been fitted with bracelets that, like the frosted end, possess a hand-crafted element that gives the watch a jewelry aesthetic. Audemars Piguet calls it the Polish bracelet since it’s given a high gloss to make it even more supple on the wrist. From the bracelet, the gold threads are in a right-over-left pattern rather than in precisely the exact same direction. The end result is a bracelet that is more elastic and therefore hugs the wrist like another skin. This is made more possible by the ability to closely size the bracelet by removing or adding links in 5mm sections. The sub-dials on the bracelet models are mother-of-pearl. The instances on all 3 new Millenary watches are scaled to 39.5mm, which makes them more wearable than the 45mm bits in previous models, and far more wearable than the 47mm Millenary 4101, a model more intended for a person’s wrist. The new, scaled-down versions make the Millenary more only a women’ collection, which is a fantastic movement for Audemars Piguet. All three new models contain the manually-wound Caliber 5201, which is reversed to display some of its elements on the dial side. Pricing for the newest Millenary models will be accessible mid-January. Irrespective of whether or not you are into all things that glitter, it can not be denied that 2017’s SIHH trends were punctuated by heaps of the 79th element in white, yellow, and frosty colours. And no one needed more to reveal in this camp than Audemars Piguet, whose Extra-Thin Jumbo Royal Oak (mention 15202) in golden didn’t quite steal the spotlight from the showstopping Perpetual Calendar in ceramic, but it surely came incredibly close — especially for those who’ve been following the last 40 or so years of this Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet just reopened its flagship boutique in Singapore, now restyled and enlarged, making it the largest such store in the world. We take you on a quick tour of the fresh premises.

Sitting just off Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping boulevard, the revamped boutique is over 2000 sq ft, the largest Audemars Piguet boutique in the world. Liberally decorated with oak and stone, the store leans heavily on Audemars Piguet’s hometown of Le Brassus for inspiration. The flagship outpost of the only haute horlogerie watchmaker still owned by the founding families, the new Singapore boutique is fronted with a three-story facade fronted with vertical strips. Made of matte bronze, these are meant to evoke the trees of Le Brassus, which sits high in the mountains of the Vallee de Joux. Despite the imposing height outside, the interior is only two floors, giving both levels expansive space.

An enormous chandelier on the ground level is inspired by the cloud and fog that will be familiar to visitors to Le Brassus.

A watchmaker sits at his bench on the second level, available for simpler tasks like replacing batteries, swapping straps or evaluating a watch for servicing.

The store is fully stocked with Audemars Piguet timepieces, including most of the Royal Oak Concept watches, various limited editions (including the limited edition “Jumbo” 15202 in yellow gold), along with some of the SIHH 2016 new releases. The Audemars Piguet boutique is located at:

541 Orchard Road

Liat Towers #01-03

Singapore 238881

First and second images courtesy of Audemars Piguet

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Today, watches like the Royal Oak endless calendar skeleton (a benchmark in AP’s collection and one of the finest perpetuals on the current market, in my own opinion), the Royal Oak Equation of Time, the innovative Chron-AP, and also this Millenary Minute Repeater prove that AP is certainly a top-tier manufacture. AP’s in-house self-winding caliber 3120, found inside the basic Royal Oak 15400, can also be among the best base movements in the world. All these are the things that keep AP pertinent to “real” watch lovers that occasionally get lost in the buzz round the other types of AP buyers.And then there’s your typical well-to-do watch purchaser. To me, the best analogy for this other kind of AP purchaser is told using a singular scene in one episode of a single television show that was popular for a period of time some years back. I am speaking about Entourage, and I wager the great majority of you know the way to which scene I’m referring.Ari Gold receives a solid gold Royal Oak chronograph (not as the opinion I’ll review down below) by his then-soon-to-be boss, who explains it as “One of the best watches in the world.” The camera then pans to the solid gold watch from its box, and Ari is in disbelief about the gift — and thus, AP is introduced to a whole bunch of potential new customers, the men who see Entourage. From this time, you see several of the personalities on the show wearing APs. Many at the time considered Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Watch Replica Replica had compensated for the placement, but in discussions with AP over time, it was revealed to me that not just one dollar was exchanged. Rather, a particular manufacturer on the show proved to be a large AP customer, and insisted it be a Royal Oak presented to Ari. Entourage did a lot for AP, but it wasn’t this 1 placement that defines the “other” kind of AP customer. It does give you an notion of where AP is popular, and that is in Hollywood, music, and sports, with the youthful and moneyed.

The ladies’ Royal Oak marks its 40th year in 2016 with the Royal Oak Frosted Gold, giving the signature Audemars Piguet Watches History Replica wristwatch a new surface finish for the first time.

Working with Italian jewellery designer Carolina Bucci, Audemars Piguet adopted a decorative technique from Florentine jewellery for the new Royal Oak, giving it a finely hammered surface.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 8

Originally designed in 1976 by Jacqueline Dimier, the Royal Oak for women was an evolution of the original Royal Oak ref. 5402 designed by Gerald Genta in 1972. Compact and dainty but resolutely octagonal, the ladies’ Royal Oak is transformed with the Florentine finish.

The original Royal Oak for women

Instead of the traditional straight grained, brushed finish applied to all flat surfaces of the watch case and bracelet, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold is treated with a diamond-tipped tool. Used to repeatedly dig into the surface of the gold, the tool creates tiny dimples, creating a textured surface that sparkles in the light.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 6

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 5

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 4

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 3

The Florentine finish is usually found on small pieces of jewellery, often used by Carolina Bucci on her creations. Repurposing the technique for serial production of the Royal Oak Frosted Gold took several months, especially when it came to perfecting the finish of the bracelet while retaining its flexility.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 9

The Royal Oak Frosted Gold is available in white or rose gold. Both versions are offered either as a 37mm automatic powered by the in-house calibre 3120, or a 33mm watch with a quartz movement.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 7

Price and availability 

Available starting March 2017, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold is priced as follows, in Swiss francs including Swiss tax:

White gold 37mm, ref. 15454BC.GG.1259BC.01 – SFr51,500
White gold 33mm, ref. 67653BC.GG.1263BC.01 – SFr42,500
Pink gold 37mm, ref. 15454OR.GG.1259OR.01 – SFr46,500
Pink gold 33mm, ref. 67653OR.GG.1263OR.01 -SFr37,500

Prices are subject to change.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold 1


 

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Now, the “best” for Audemars Piguet Watch Battery Replica signifies their attempting to create the most clear and crisp sound of any minute repeater. The brand points into three achievements demonstrated in this particular watch, which I will briefly run through. First, the unique preparation of the steel used to produce the gong structure makes it possible for the watchmakers to accurately and easily correct and hone the pitch, tone, and stability of this minute repeater. Secondly, the method by which the situation is built minimizes sound absorption and maximizes amplification. I will examine this “soundboard” technique more a little bit in the future. Finally, the striking regulator is redesigned so the anchor system acts like a shock absorber, minimizing shock noise.One of the most significant components of a second repeater watch is the situation because it’s responsible for broadening the sound. It’s often said that gold is the ideal material for the job because it generates a richer sound, but the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch opts for titanium. If you have any questions about that, you only need to check at exotic supercars and their titanium exhausts. Titanium can also be used everywhere round the watch to improve the quality of the sound, but more with this later.The use of titanium also suggests that despite the watch’s sizable dimensions, at 44mm wide and 16.5mm thick, it still stays light and comfortable to wear. And thanks to its unique aesthetic, the case design instantly identifies the watch as a Royal Oak Concept and nothing else.It goes without mentioning that the case is completed to an impeccably large standard with contrasting finishing. The bezel has mirror polished edges and features a satin-brushed complete on the surface, which matches the exposed polished 18k white gold screw heads. The situation was sandblasted and features a matte finish that juxtaposes very well with the shinier bezel. The huge crown and chronograph pushers have been made from ceramic.

Most of the gold watches sold are 18k rose, pink or red gold. A quick once-over of a catalogue proves that. Yellow gold is slightly out of fashion. Audemars Piguet is the first amongst established, high-end watchmakers to emphasise the metal, with a full range of yellow gold Royal Oaks presented at SIHH 2016, including a chunky chronograph.

Last year, however, Audemars Piguet announced arguably the most interesting yellow gold Royal Oak of all, a limited edition made for Singapore retailer The Hour Glass. It’s Royal Oak Extra-Thin ref. 15202 – the model that’s closest to the original 1972 Royal Oak “Jumbo” – in bright yellow gold, with a dark green dial.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Yellow Gold 7

In the regular collection, the only precious metal the Royal Oak Extra-Thin is offered in is rose gold, giving it an ostentatious, contemporary look. The yellow gold limited edition instead harks back to the original Royal Oak “Jumbo”, which was available only in yellow gold, the de rigueur colour of gold back then.

Typical of a Royal Oak, the surfaces and edges of the case are gorgeously finished. The mirror-polishing is lustrous while the brushed surfaces are fine and precise. No doubt the finish is a scratch magnet, but fresh off the production line there are few watch case as tangibly sexy as a Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Yellow Gold 3

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Yellow Gold 4

The bezel and case are covered in clear protective stickers, hence the grainy surface

It’s still loud and flashy, but the colour of gold makes it that much more different from the numerous, run of the mill rose gold watches. The feel is slightly retro, accented by the green dial, another unusual colour. Green pairs with yellow gold very well, but it’s not often found in modern watches. The shade brings to mind British racing green, and is slightly glossy; a marginally less glossy finish may have been more suited to the shiny case. The dial motif is the chequerboard tapisserie that’s a trademark on the Royal Oak.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Yellow Gold 2

The movement inside is identical to the ordinary version of this watch, the slim, automatic calibre 2121 that is still regarded as one of the most sophisticated automatic movements despite being just shy of 50 years old. Today the movement is exclusive to Audemars Piguet (which makes it in-house, having bought the rights) and Vacheron Constantin; though decades ago Patek Philippe also used the same calibre in the original Nautilus ref. 3700 “Jumbo”.

Originally developed as the Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 920 in 1968, the movement is very thin, just 3.05mm high, but with a full rotor, instead of the micro-rotor common in slim automatics. That called for some clever engineering, most obvious being the metal ring on ruby rollers that supports the rotor. In The Hour Glass edition the 18k gold rotor – which ironically seems to be rose gold – features an open-worked hour glass and hand-engraved limited edition lettering. While appropriate for the edition, the logo looks somewhat uninteresting relative to the rest of the watch.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Yellow Gold 6

Pricing and availability 

Available only at The Hour Glass, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin The Hour Glass Edition (ref. 15205BA.OO.1240BA.01) is priced at S$79,600 including seven percent local tax. That’s equivalent to US$58,800, and about five percent more than the regular production rose gold model. While the premium over the ordinary model is modest, it’s still stiff for a time-only wristwatch.

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Now, the “best” for Audemars Piguet Pocket Watch Replica means their attempting to make the very crisp and clear sound of any minute repeater. The newest points to three accomplishments demonstrated in this particular watch, which I will briefly run through. First, the unique preparation of the steel used to produce the gong arrangement makes it possible for the watchmakers to more accurately and easily adjust and enhance the pitch, tone, and harmony of the second repeater. Second, the method by which the situation is built reduces sound absorption and maximizes amplification. I will examine this “soundboard” technique a little bit in the future. Last, the striking regulator is redesigned so that the anchor system behaves like a shock absorber, minimizing shock noise.One of the most important components of a second repeater watch is that the case since it is responsible for amplifying the sound. Titanium is a really light and strong alloy, and its low density enables sound to pass through with less resistance. If you have any questions about this, you only have to check at exotic supercars and their titanium exhausts. Titanium is also used elsewhere around the watch to improve the quality of the noise, but more on this later.The use of titanium also means that despite the watch’s sizable dimensions, in 44mm wide and 16.5mm thick, it remains light and comfy to wear. And due to its unique aesthetic, the case design immediately identifies the opinion as a Royal Oak Concept and nothing else.It goes without mentioning that the instance is completed to an impeccably high standard with contrasting finishing. The bezel has mirror polished edges and includes a satin-brushed finish on the surface, which matches the exposed polished 18k white gold twist heads. The case was sandblasted and has a matte finish that juxtaposes very nicely with the more slender bezel. The large crown and chronograph pushers have been made out of ceramic.

Two year ago Audemars Piguet announced plans for a new museum, shaped like a glass spiral rising out of the pastoral fields of Le Brassus and designed by the same Danish architect responsible for Google’s new headquarters. The watchmaker broke ground on the the new building at the start of October 2016, capping two years of planning and design.

Designed by Danish architects BIG, short for Bjarke Ingels Group, the museum will be some 2800 square meters, or well over 30,000 square feet. Named Maison des Fondateurs, or “Home of the Founders”, the museum will have panoramic walls of curved glass along its entire length, topped by a roof garden.

The Audemars Piguet museum is just one of the high profile projects BIG is working on. Others include Two World Trade Center in New York City, Google’s sci-fi campus in Mountain View, and Lego House in Denmark.

Audemars Piguet Museum Maison des Fondateurs 3

Audemars Piguet Museum Maison des Fondateurs 1

Audemars Piguet Museum Maison des Fondateurs 4Audemars Piguet Museum Maison des Fondateurs 5

But the museum will not be the only addition to the Audemars Piguet compound. Closed since early 2016, the quaint Hotel des Horlogers will be razed and replaced with a similarly stylish glass building designed by BIG with sloping buildings and long glass facades.

Owned by Audemars Piguet and separated from its factory by a carpark, the four star Hotel des Horlogers – or “watchmaker’s hotel” – will grow from 27 rooms to 65 and become a luxury hotel worthy of the visitors who make the pilgrimage to see expensive watches being produced.

Both the museum and hotel are slated to open in 2019.

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What’s left of the “dial” is essentially a satin-brushed, ruthenium-toned ring round the edge and the two anthracite sub-dials. There is a rehaut printed with a minute chapter ring too. In my experience, legibility isn’t the strongest suit for a skeletonized watch, but that’s less of a problem in the case of this watch. The usage of pink gold applied hour markers and pink gold baton-shaped hands, both filled with lume, should provide adequate legibility in most lighting conditions. The “Audemars Piguet” logo is printed onto the surface of the sapphire crystal on front, and this gives it a pleasant floating effect.The sub-dials are easy with white printed white and text baton-shaped hands. The sub-dial in 3:00 suggests chronograph minutes and the one at 9:00 shows constant seconds. One possible issue with legibility must do with the chronograph seconds hand, which can be black with a lumed white hint. Between just how thin the hand is and also the colour, studying the chronograph elapsed time may be more cumbersome than people may like. It is not easy to say for sure until we get our hands on a physical case of this watch.I’ve left the case and bracelet description to the past because these are a few of the most recognizable aspects of the watch. This is the exact same Gerald Genta design that is popular among several collectors however with 44mm by 13.2mm case measurements. This is a somewhat large watch with a wide bezel on both front and rear. All the straight lines and sharp angles additionally give it a larger appearance. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph can be obtained in two case substances — titanium and rose gold. There are the obvious visual differences in the two materials but what I find interesting is that ceramic is generally a light material with high tensile strength, while gold is a dense but soft material. What this means is that the expertise of wearing each variant should be significantly different, and that I personally find this interesting.

Five years ago Audemars Piguet Women’s Watches Prices Replica unveiled the Millenary 4101, giving its ovoid timepiece an adventurous new look, imparting some of the excitement that accompanies the inevitable Royal Oak. At SIHH 2016 Audemars Piguet went one step further by skeletonising the 4101 to create the Millenary Openworked (ref. 15352OR.OO.D093CR.01) – an aesthetic exercise, but one that’s beautifully decorated and styled.

Conceived to have the movement form part of the dial, the movement inside the original Millenary 4101 was based on the calibre 3120, the basic in-house movement of Audemars Piguet. That was rejigged to give it a linear, left to right layout, as well as an off-centred sub-dial for the time, with the decorated base plate exposed as part of the dial, making the mechanics part of the aesthetics.

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 2

With as much as possible removed, the Millenary Openworked the calibre 4105 reveals even more. The architecture of the calibre 4101 was retained, with its most prominent features remaining in place: two rows of large screws hold down a series of bridges that span the front vertically, and the balance wheel taking centrestage at nine o’clock. The sub-dial for the time has been open-worked as well, leaving the seconds as the only solid part on the front.

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 5

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 4

Intricate enough to distract from the time, the skeleton movement is leaves little to the imagination. You can literally peer inside.

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 3 Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 10 Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 8

Up close the movement acquits itself well, with a high level of finishing, especially on the front of the parts. Audemars Piguet leans towards a clean look for its skeleton movements (ditto for the Royal Oak skeletons), so the bridges are finished with a fine, grained surface and a dark grey plating. But there is no mistaking the hand-finishing, particularly on the many polished bevels as well as mirror-polished screw heads. The bevelling on the sharp, inward angles of the bridges is notably masterful.

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 7 Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 6

Some things are best left to the imagination 

That being said, and this is a shortcoming of many skeleton watches, too much can be revealed. The underside of the balance wheel, for instance, is readily visible from the back. It is unfinished, showing the shallow divots milled out for poising. Flip over the balance wheel in any high-end, serially-produced watch and it will look the same, but it is not the prettiest part of the movement.

Audemars Piguet Millenary 4101 Openworked 9

Pricing and availability 

At 47 mm in diameter is large, but not excessively so, since the shape is oval rather than round. It has substantial presence, looking expensive on the wrist, as it should, given the stiff price tag. The Millenary Openworked (ref. 15352OR.OO.D093CR.01) is priced at S$94,300, equivalent to US$68,100.

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The black satin-brushed dial is partly skeletonized to show the inner workings of this watch. The hour and minute hands are made of 18K white gold and are partially skeletonized also. However, as they are rather chunky, telling the time is not overly hard, but legibility isn’t ideal. That being said, this isn’t really a bit where the palms will be the focus. The running moments hand for your chronograph is glowing yellow to give contrast against the black dial.Finally, the respective moment markers as well as the mark to the 30-minute chronograph at 3 o’clock are rendered in yellow and white to offer maximum contrast and legibility. The 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock can be unique since it displays the elapsed minutes using a retrograde indicator. And lastly, at six o’clock is the tourbillon.The movement is where the magic all occurs. It is obviously in-house, and it is the calibre 2937. And like most of luxury chronograph movements, it has a column-wheel and lateral clutch.What’s unusual about it, though, is both gongs. Instead of mounting the gongs into the motion plate, they are attached to what Audemars Piguet calls a “sound board” Essentially, it is a thin membrane made of a special aluminum alloy which covers the back of the motion, held in place by screws, and also forming a water-tight seal. This explains how the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch is able to acquire a water-resistance rating of 20 meters, which may not seem like much to a casual observer, but this could not be more incorrect. The 20 meters is in fact rather impressive considering the intricate construction of this watch.

The balance wheel is oft regarded as the beating heart of a mechanical wristwatch. The balance swings back and forth because it’s attached to a hairspring, a flat metal spiral that’s slightly elastic. Most hairsprings are pinned at the center of the spiral, and at the outer extreme. Because of the two immovable end points, they don’t breathe concentrically, a problem that is exacerbated when the watch is vertical and gravity is acting on the hairspring, pulling it off-centre even more.

One solution to this is two use two stacked hairsprings, each mirroring the other and averaging out any errors. Laurent Ferrier and H. Moser & Cie. have both installed double hairsprings in their watches (incidentally both use the same hairsprings made by Moser’s sister company Precision Engineering), while Montblanc has even used double cylindrical hairsprings, one inside the other.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel 2

Audemars Piguet went a step further when it unveiled the Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked at SIHH 2016 that’s equipped with two superimposed balance wheels, each with its own hairspring.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked pink gold 2

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked pink gold 3

In addition to the advantage of having twin hairsprings, two balance wheels means the inertia of the regulator is doubled, which promises more stable timekeeping since a body with greater inertia is more likely to keep going, regardless of shocks.

But there is a downside, as extra energy required to move the second balance wheel – illustrated by the diminished power reserve of 45 hours with the double balance wheel, compared to 60 hours in the movement with a single balance. On balance (no pun intended), the pros outweigh the cons, which is why this watch has made it to market.

Beyond the regulator, the rest of the calibre 3132 inside is functionally identical to the calibre 3120, workhorse in-house automatic of Audemars Piguet. It has been dressed up with skeletonised bridges that reveal the movement’s mechanics. In fact, the movement is almost identical to that in the Royal Oak skeleton ref. 15305 except for one obvious giveaway: the red gold bridge holding the double balance wheels.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked pink gold 4

Typical of Audemars Piguet Rose Gold Watch Replica the movement is skeletonised and finished in a modern style with smooth lines and geometric shapes in the open-working. All the movement decoration is neat and clean, with the prominent, polished bevels on the many edges of the bridges obviously diamond-cut, resulting in the characteristic sharp and shiny edge, with one exception. The gold bridge for the balance wheels appeared to have hand-finished edges, resulting in slight unevenness.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel 3

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked pink gold 5

All the bridges are ruthenium plated for a dark grey finish, which means the eye is immediately drawn to the brighter, rose gold-plated parts of the dial, namely the hands and balance bridge.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked pink gold 6

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked pink gold 1

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel 4

The rest of the watch is vintage Royal Oak, with the beautifully finished case having mirror polished edges and brushed flat surfaces. The Royal Oak is one of the few watch cases that is justifiably pricing – it looks and feels as expensive as it is – even in stainless steel.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel 5

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel 6

The Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked is 41mm in diameter and 9.9mm high. The extra height required by the second balance wheel means this is slightly thicker than the skeleton Royal Oak with a single balance that’s 9.4mm high. Though not large, the watch feels chunky and angular on the wrist.

Pricing and availability

The Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked in pink gold (ref. 15407OR.OO.1220OR.01) is priced at US$76,800 or S$107,700. And the stainless steel version (ref. 15407ST.OO.1220ST.01) is US$44,100 or S$61,800.

Both are about 20 percent more expensive than their equivalent predecessors without the double balance wheel. The watches are currently available at Audemars Piguet boutiques, with retailers receiving it later in the year.

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Cheapest All You Need to Know About the Tudor MT5813 Chronograph Movement Japanese Movement Replica

The black satin-brushed dial is partly skeletonized to show the internal workings of this watch. However, as they’re fairly chunky, telling the timing is not overly hard, but legibility is not ideal. That having been said, this isn’t really a piece where the palms are the focus. The running seconds hand to your chronograph is bright yellow to give contrast against the black dial.Finally, the individual moment markers and the markers to the 30-minute chronograph in 3 o’clock are left in yellow and white to provide maximum contrast and legibility. The 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock can be unique since it displays the elapsed minutes with a retrograde index. And lastly, at six o’clock is that the tourbillon.The motion is where the magic all occurs. It’s obviously in-house, also it’s the calibre 2937. Manually wound, it sports a staggering 478 parts, beats at 3Hz, and provides a power reserve of 42 hours. And like most of luxury chronograph movements, it’s a column-wheel and lateral clutch.What’s unusual about it, though, is its two gongs. Rather than mounting the gongs into the motion plate, they are attached to what Audemars Piguet requires a “sound board” Basically, it is a thin membrane made of a special aluminum alloy which covers the rear of the motion, held in place with screws, and also forming a water-tight seal. This clarifies how the Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie Tourbillon Chronograph watch is able to acquire a water-resistance score of 20 meters, which might not seem like much to some casual observer, but this could not be more incorrect. The 20 meters is in fact quite impressive considering the intricate structure of this watch.

Audemars Piguet‘s flagship Royal Oak Concepts are usually in novel materials like carbon composite and ceramic, exemplified by the very latest Supersonnerie. In contrast, the freshly unveiled Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph is classic yellow gold with a green crocodile strap and set with large baguette-cut diamonds for a retro-bling look.

While yellow gold far less common than rose or white gold in contemporary watchmaking, AP has made the metal a focal point of the latest Royal Oak watches, with a suite of 2016 models in the metal, as well as a limited edition Royal Oak Extra-Thin “Jumbo” for The Hour Glass. Continuing the theme, the new Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph is also exclusive to the same Singapore-based retailer.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph yellow gold THG 3

Fitted with a 5.66 carat diamond-set bezel, the 44mm case is entirely yellow gold, with the option of a diamond-paved case. All of the hands are yellow gold, with even the markings on the dial in a matching shade. It’s a look that’s a tad out of sync with the current economic climate, but one that’s different from the usual black and grey high-end complications.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph yellow gold diamond pave 1

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph yellow gold diamond pave 2

The Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph is descended from the original Royal Oak Concept in alacrite, a watch that remains surprisingly fresh for something that made its debut in 2002. Mechanically the new Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph is similar to the original, but more complicated.

Hand-wound with near 10 days of power reserve, the Concept Tourbillon Chronograph has a tourbillon at nine o’clock and power reserve at 12. The scale on the right is a linear minute counter for the chronograph, which counts the seconds via a central seconds hand.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph yellow gold THG 2

The six o’clock indicator is for the function selector, indicating the crown position, a trademark of Renaud & Papi (the subsidiary of AP specialising in complications). And the baseplate of the movement is carbon composite, as are the bridges, explaining the marbled grey surface.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph yellow gold THG 4

Price and availability 

The Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph in yellow gold is a limited edition of five pieces, available at The Hour Glass.

The version with the diamond bezel (ref. 26224BA.ZZ.D400CR.01) is priced at S$590,900, while the version with diamond on the bezel and case (ref. 26225BA.ZZ.D400CR.01) is S$625,600.

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Cheapest All You Need to Know About the Tudor MT5813 Chronograph Movement Japanese Movement Replica

Many forget that at the time of its introduction in 1972, the now-classical 39mm Royal Oak caused quite a stir with its price, its on-display twist heads in its own bezel, its steel case and bracelet, and its extremely large cost, unprecedented for a steel watch. Now, all this was taken to the next level with the Royal Oak Offshore.It was large and brash, and purists who watched it at Basel back in 1993 screamed that the Royal Oak had been desecrated — likely the very same men and women who cried out to about the first Royal Oak desecrating luxury watches in general. Truth be told, the Offshore has been a bold move by Audemars Piguet, but now we all know how well it has repaid. Now, the Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore are Audemars Piguet’s best-selling collections — basically synonymous with the brand itself, which clearly is not a fantastic thing, but we’ll leave that discussion for another time.

Gold, not mere gold, but gold, is usually thought of as yellow. Gold bullion, the stuff that gets stolen in films, is yellow gold. Despite its popularity amongst villains, this sort of gold has been out of fashion for some time. Pundits have predicted the return of yellow gold, but it hasn’t happened yet. Paying no heed, Audemars Piguet has revived the Royal Oak in yellow gold.

There is no other watch design that shows off the beauty of metal finishing better than the Royal Oak. None. Though the essential form of the watch is simple, octagonal and angular, the lines of the case, particularly its edges, are complex. Even the Patek Philippe Nautilus – a brother from another mother as one might say – has softer, rounder lines.

And so the Royal Oak in 18k gold is especially lustrous. That lustre has only been available in rose gold, or occasionally platinum, until SIHH 2016, when Audemars Piguet debuted an entire line of Royal Oaks in yellow gold, including the Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm (ref. 26320BA). The basics of the watch are identical to the stainless steel model: a 41 mm case with screw-down chronograph pushers and the Frederic Piguet calibre 1185 inside.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 10

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 5

All the right angles

The watch is large, chunky and gleaming. Because it’s so flashy, the nuance of the case finish can only be appreciated up close. It acquits itself very well that way, with wide, mirror-polished bevels and beautifully straight grained surfaces, intersected by a neat, precise edge. Even though the two surface finishes are very different, the edge where they meet is remarkably sharp; it’s hard to think of another watchmaker that finishes cases with such competence. Even the crown guards, which are basic forms in most other watches, are remarkably shaped and finished.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 2

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 3

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 8

All those beautiful sharp edges and angular forms have a downside though, the Royal Oak does not feel as smooth on the wrist as its peers (the Nautilus for instance), a sensation that’s even more pronounced with the weighty precious metal models. And another downside of the lovely case is how easily it scratches and scuffs. All the gorgeous, mirror-polished bevels mark exceptionally easier, as does the brushed top surfaces.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 4

Decorated with tapisserie guilloche, the dial is classic Royal Oak. The very same motif found on the original 1972 Royal Oak “Jumbo”, it’s made up of tiny, raised squares along with extremely fine, overlapping concentric circles that are a result of the hand-operated engine-turning process. To match the case, the hands and hour markers are 18k yellow gold; the baton hour markers have lengthwise bevels and are impressively well-defined.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 6

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 7

An old soul inside

The greatest weakness of the Royal Oak Chronograph is its movement. Termed the Audemars Piguet 2385, it is actually a Frederic Piguet calibre 1185. Though almost 30 years old, having been introduced in 1988, the 1185 remains one of the most compact chronograph movements on the market. Not only is it small, the refined 1185 is also an integrated construction with all the usual features associated with high-end chronographs, namely a column wheel and vertical clutch. A revolutionary development in its time, the 1185 influenced chronograph design in a major way, especially in the last decade, with movements from Omega, Panerai, Cartier and Rolex being similar in many respects.

But fine as it is, the 1185 is not in-house. Rival luxury sports chronographs from Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin boast in-house movements (the new VC Overseas only just arrived this year). While having an in-house movement in itself means nothing, at this price point a well constructed and decently finished in-house movement is now the expectation given what its rivals are doing.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 1

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm yellow gold 11

Pricing and availability 

Already available in stores, the Royal Oak Chronograph 41 mm in yellow gold is priced at US$56,600 or S$79,400. It’s available with a silver dial (ref. 26320BA.OO.1220BA.01) or dark blue dial (ref. 26320BA.OO.1220BA.02).