Happy Birthday, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore!
The sporty cousin to the iconic Royal Oak is celebrating its anniversary with (what else?) a re-edition of the original model, as well as two new Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronographs.
The original AP Royal Oak Offshore was launched in 1993 and was critically considered both too bold and too brash for its time. Years later, there have been over 120-references of the model in total, in materials such as steel, titanium, gold and platinum.
This was, in part, down to the current watchmaking trends of the time – bigger is better. And despite the current trend back to smaller timepieces, the Royal Oak Offshore remains one of Audemars Piguet’s biggest sellers.
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The latest 45-millimetre versions come in pink 18-karat gold as well as stainless steel, and both are limited to just 40 pieces. Both models are inspired by previous Tourbillon Chronograph versions but feature an all-new movement (the in-house hand-would calibre 2847).
The open-worked dial lets you see elements of the movement below, including the tourbillon at the nine o’clock mark, and the 30-minute counter for the chronograph at the three o’clock position. To top off the design, the crown and pushers are now crafted in ceramic instead of metal and rubber.
