Description

The ‘Royal Oak’ overturned the prevailing codes in 1972 during a period of existential crisis for the watch industry due to the boom of the cheap Quartz watches made in Asia.

The company had to come with a bold, solid stainless sports steel luxury watch, they gave the mission to Gerald Genta to design it.
He got the inspiration from a deep-sea-diving helmet, the result was an octagonal bezel, visible mounting screws, a large case of 39mm with an integrated bracelet, a very futuristic design for the seventies.

Within 2-3 years they sold about 1000 watches establishing a new segment within the industry and pioneered the popularity and desirability of the steel sports luxury watch.

– In 1993 the standard Royal Oak being already 20 years old, the brand looking for a younger generation clientele came with a very polarised design, people in the industry calling it “The Beast”.

The shocking 42mm for that time, with apparent rubber seal on the bezel, the rubber pushers were in contrast to the elegant Royal Oak but the Offshore turned out to be a great success.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Flying Tourbillon Chronograph is a luxury watch that combines cutting-edge technology with an extreme sporty-chic design. The use of titanium in the case makes it both lightweight and durable while giving it a modern look.

The 43mm case and the bezel are made of sandblasted titanium while the pushpieces and screw-locked crown are in black ceramic.

Besides being part of a limited series of 100 pieces, where the watch differentiates itself from the Royal Oak Offshore collection is through the dial. Surrounded by a black inner bezel with seconds scale, we find a 30-minute counter slightly above 9 o’ clock and a 12-hour counter slightly above 3 o’ clock, with a subtle touch of red for the hands and markings, to add contrast to the sober tone of the watch.

The open-worked dial reveals the beautiful self-winding movement which can also be admired through the sapphire crystal case back. Measuring 33.6mm in diameter and 8.4mm in thickness, the Calibre 2967 houses 526 parts and 40 jewels and has a power reserve of 65 hours. The visible components of the movement remain in a similar greyish tone while the rotor is in 22k white gold.

For its main highlight, this timepiece features a flying tourbillon visible at 6 o’ clock, which is a type of tourbillon that is not attached to a bridge, making it appear as if it is floating in mid-air. For the rest of the functionalities, Audemars Piguet has included a flyback chronograph, and hours and minutes with 18ct white gold hands.

The watch is delivered with an interchangeable black rubber strap, complete with a sandblasted titanium folding clasp bearing the AP logo.

Audemars Piguet – bio

Audemars Piguet is a Swiss manufacturer of mechanical watches founded in 1875. They began in the Vallée de Joux. Jules Louis Audemars formed a partnership with Edward Auguste Piguet. Audemars created complicated blank watch movements for other manufactures to use. Piguet specialized in the final regulation of watches. They then split responsibilities when they began their own company. Audemars was in charge of production and technical aspects while Piguet focused on sales and management. One of their first achievements was creating the first repeater wristwatch in 1892 and in 1972 the iconic steel “Royal Oak”.