Royal Oak, Flying Tourbillons and Tuscan Dials. AP Has Done His Job.
Royal Oak, Flying Tourbillons and Tuscan Dials. AP Has Done His Job.
Audemars unveiled the first novelties of 2024, continuing the extraordinary journey of the past few years
Quella che si è appena conclusa è stata una settimana piena di new releases, martedì è uscito l’attesissimo Omega Speedmaster con quadrante bianco che era già stato visto al polso di Daniel Craig a novembre, ma che è stato lanciato ufficialmente solo pochi giorni fa.
While just two days later, on Thursday, March 7, Audemars Piguet introduced its first novelty drop of the year while celebrating the opening of a new AP House in Milan.
The Le Brassus-based maison unveiled a host of new products, many of which involve the Royal Oak collection, but there was no shortage of new creations for both Offshore and Code 11.59. So many of these timepieces are the completion of a work begun with the previous releases; in fact, these are references that offer a different combination of coloring and material than the models already in production.
Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ‘John Mayer’ Limited Edition
Impossible to begin this roundup of news without starting with the watch that has attracted the most attention for its beauty, technical complexity, and media hype.
The history of collaborations between Audemars Piguet and celebrities is very long indeed, from Hip-Hop and Trap personalities like Jay-Z in 2005 and Travis Scott in 2023, to sportsmen and women like LeBron James in 2013, through fashion brands like ALYX in 2022 and superheroes with the partnership with Marvel. In this article, I had summarized the most important collaborations made in recent years by former CEO François-Henry Bennahmias, assuming that the one with Travis Scott would be the last major chapter of a strategic plan that has led the brand has a major repositioning. Evidently I was wrong because before the leadership of the company passed to new CEO Ilaria Resta, FHB had worked on a collaboration with singer-songwriter John Mayer, a well-known watch collector.
Unlike most of the models made with famous people, in this case the watch is presented without major changes from the models that make up the catalog. There are no flashy logos, strange colors or symbols, but everything remains quite classic. And it is precisely on this aspect that the collaboration is based. If, for example, Travis had made a very flashy watch, in keeping with his character, John Mayer, being a great connoisseur of watches, wanted to express his creativity by going and bringing back a highly sought-after Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar with Tuscan Dial. The term "Tuscan" for the hand-hammered dials found on rare Royal Oak,is said to have been a nickname given by some Italian collectors who were reminded of the night sky of Tuscany. This term has never been officially mentioned by Audemars, which uses the term 'Crystal Sky' for this new release.
Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon Openworked
The search for new materials is a constant for Audemars Piguet, from the Perpetual Calendars in full ceramic, to the 16202 in titanium; the house invests heavily in making watches with innovative materials. In this case we are looking at what AP refers to as 'Sand Gold' (hence the acronym SG in the reference).
When a watch is made with a precious material, it is mixed with other metals to create stronger alloys. In the specific case of rose gold this is often mixed with silver, but what happens if you replace the latter with palladium? Although probably none of us has ever asked such a question, in the parts of Le Brassus this question has been dealt with very thoroughly, so much so that they have produced this new alloy made precisely with a mix of rose gold and palladium. The color is really something unprecedented, especially for its reflections that vary between pink and beige.
This new reference is in addition to the already present steel model presented on the occasion of Royal Oak's 50th anniversary in January 2022. It is rather strange that this reference is still in production, while the steel 16204, also produced for the anniversary, has been discontinued. We will see how much longer the production of 26735ST will last.
Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon Selfwinding
Remaining still within the reference 26730 with a 41mm case, AP presented two more flying tourbillons, this time in steel and red dial, with the same hue as 16202XT, and in rose gold and silver dial. These two new additions join the eight other configurations already in production, coming to buy so many variations in both dial and material.
Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon Selfwinding Ultra-Thin RD#3
While in the 37mm case version, the purple dial and steel case model is joined by this white gold, diamond bezel and blue dial model. As a complication previously reserved for 41mm diameters, it took AP's technical team five years to rethink the architecture and adapt it to the 39mm and 37mm models.
Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ Ultra-Thin Openworked
As I told you earlier, some of these new releases are precisely the completion of combinations and materials that had not yet been covered by the models released in previous years. The new 16204 in white gold was the missing configuration of this reference, for which a yellow gold version had been presented in September 2023 while, before that, in January 2022, the rose gold version had made its entrance. In that case, a steel version (ref. 16204ST.OO.1240ST.01) had also been launched, which was later replaced precisely by the white gold model. The steel was intended to be produced only during the 50th anniversary year, and for that reason, although it remained in circulation a little longer, it was discontinued.
Royal Oak Offshore
The new Offshore is neither a diver nor a chronograph, but nevertheless it is very successful indeed. This collection is the 1990s interpretation of the Royal Oak and was initially created as a chronograph and later produced also in a time-only version as a diver. This new entry continues the path traced with the Offshore presented in 2021, featuring the Mega Tapisserie motif on the dial.
In addition to the presence of the date, the feature that makes it so interesting is the rubber bezel, which is rather unprecedented for watchmaking, although it was already experimented in 2002 in another Offshore.
In addition to the novelties we have summarized above, AP presented new Code 11.59s in rose gold, in different colors and some also in a chronograph version, and two Royal Oak in yellow gold, the first with a chronograph in the reference 26240 BA and the second with a 37mm size (Ref. 15550BA) also features a 'Frosted Gold' casework. Then there are two more 37mm Royal Oak (Ref. 15551OR and 15551BC) with diamond case and bezel and two Ref. 77450 (34mm), the first in rose gold with coral dial and the second of steel and gold with gray dial.
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