Today, Audemars Piguet is unveiling a number of new Royal Oak novelties well worth introducing, from turquoise and smoky blue dials to a new Jumbo Extra-Thin and a chronograph with blue sapphires. In this article, we introduce you to the absolute highlights.
The last time a Royal Oak 37 mm appeared in a yellow-gold case was in 2018. Now, five years down the line, Audemars Piguet is introducing a new version with an exquisite gemstone dial.
For the first time ever, the horology house is using the gemstone turquoise for the dial of a Royal Oak. It is worth mentioning that Audemars Piguet’s gemstone dials had their heyday from the late 1960s to the 1990s. The gemstone was already in use in Egypt and China over 3,000 years ago. Today, experts consider it one of the most precious and sought-after gemstones in the jewellery industry due to its intense colour. The turquoise in this new watch comes from Mexico and was cut into fine pieces, sandblasted, then polished and inserted into a setting of gold-plated brass. The total height of the turquoise on the dial is just 0.75 mm.
Each dial is unique. Due to the gemstone’s individual nature, from texture to colour, each stone reacts differently to the processing and finishing. To fix the turquoise into the dial, Audemars Piguet use tiny ‘feet’, which they specially adapt to the height of the stone. The date disc also comes in a matching turquoise tone. Meanwhile, the yellow-gold indexes and hands have a luminous coating for 24/7 legibility.
In true Audemars Piguet style, the surfaces of the case, bezel and bracelet, which are all 18-carat yellow gold, showcase hand-finishing with alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces.
Powering the new Royal Oak Automatic 37 mm is the manufacture’s latest automatic movement, calibre 5900 (first put to use in the 37 mm models last year). Despite its slim height of 3.9 mm, it offers hours, minutes, seconds, a date function, plus a power reserve of 60 hours and frequency of 4 Hz. The movement is visible through the open sapphire crystal caseback, revealing not only the 22-carat rose gold oscillating weight, but also various decorations, from polished angles and vertical satin brushing to Côtes de Genève, graining, and chamfering.
Furthermore, Audemars Piguet is also introducing a Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin with a new grained dial. The 39 mm case of the limited edition model is white gold and is available exclusively at Audemars Piguet boutiques.
The grained dial takes its inspiration from a 1992 model created to complement the platinum Reference 14802, which was introduced to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Royal Oak. Audermars Piguet has reworked the surface texture of the dial on the new Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin to achieve an even finer, brighter grained look. The blue hue, which the watchmaker achieves using a PVD process, is given a transparent coating to ensure that the dial’s relief structures appear even more vivid and radiant. This aesthetic aims to evoke the cloudless night sky over Le Brassus.
The case and bracelet are white gold, as are the hour markers and hands with luminous material. Meanwhile, the date disc matches to the dial colour.
Powering the new Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin is the calibre 7121. First appearing last year on the occasion of the Royal Oak‘s 50th anniversary, the caliber is 3.2 mm in height, accommodating the slim case height of 8.1 mm. The barrel within is larger than its predecessors’, and therefore offers a larger power reserve of 55 hours. In addition, the date features a flat, energy-saving mechanism with new patented rapid corrector.
The calibre 7121 movement is visible through the open sapphire crystal caseback, revealing not only the 18-carat rose gold oscillating weight, but also the various decorations, from Côtes de Genève, circular satin-finishing, snailing, to circular graining and polished angles.
Furthermore, Audemars Piguet is adding two new automatic models and a chronograph for slimmer wrists to the Royal Oak collection this year. The trio consists of two automatic models with 34 and 37 mm diameters, alongside an automatic 38 mm Royal Oak chronograph. The three new models have 18-carat white gold cases and feature Grande Tapisserie dials in a dark smoky blue, as well as diamonds on the bezel.
All three timepieces come in 18-carat white gold cases and feature 32 baguette-cut diamonds on the bezel. Audemars Piguet create the blue dials through a PVD process. The smoky effect, in turn, is created by carefully spraying coloured lacquer onto the exterior of the dials, which rotates during the process. Furthermore, the horology house uses 12 baguette-cut diamonds for the hour markers, while the hands are white gold with a luminous coating. The ‘Audemars Piguet’ logo, introduced last year, uses a galvanic process. The letters connect to one another with minuscule links and are affixed onto the dial by hand with tiny ‘feet’ that are virtually invisible to the naked eye.
Powering the 34 mm models is the calibre 5800 with automatic winding. It beats at a frequency of 4 Hz, while the power reserve is approximately 50 hours. Meanwhile, the 37 mm model runs with the self-winding calibre 5900, which has a power reserve of 60 hours. Both movements are fitted with a 22-carat rose gold oscillating weight, showcasing sandblasted and satin-finishing as well as polished chamfers. Audemars Piguet adorn the two movements with other decorations such as Côtes de Genève, trait-tirés, snailing and circular graining.
Meanwhile, the horology house equips the chronograph with the automatic calibre 2385. It runs at a frequency of 3 Hz while offering a power reserve of 40 hours. Unlike the two smaller models, the white-gold caseback is solid, meaning the movement within is not visible to the wearer.
The case, bezel and bracelet of the new 41 mm version of the Royal Oak automatic chronograph are all in 18-carat white gold. The bezel is set with 32 blue baguette-cut sapphires (~3.32 carats). The blue dial uses the maison’s Grande Tapisserie motif, and integrates three indicators for the chronograph in light blue. The date disc is likewise blue.
The chronograph runs on the latest in-house chronograph movement, the automatic calibre 4401. The fully integrated movement features a column wheel with vertical clutch system and a flyback function. A patented zero resetting mechanism ensures that each one of the counter hands instantaneously reset to zero. The sapphire crystal caseback reveals decorations such as Côtes de Genève, circular graining, circular satin and polished chamfers.
The new Royal Oak Chronograph Automatic 41 mm will first be available exclusively in Japan from May 2023 – then worldwide from July 2023. The price is approximately 156,000 euros. All other new models are available immediately and cost: 60,200 euros for the Royal Oak Automatic 37 mm in turquoise and 76,700 euros for the Royal Oak Jumbo Extra Flat, while the three new models with smoky blue dials cost 93,000 CHF (26715BC.ZZ.1356BC.01), 98,000 CHF (15551BC.ZZ.1356BC.01) and 115,000 CHF (26715BC.ZZ.1356BC.01).
