On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the watchmaker presents a new generation of the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin and two new Openworked models. Externally, the watches hardly differ from the historical model, the Royal Oak. Instead, the greatest innovation is to be found inside, where the company has now installed the completely new 7121 caliber, meaning that a new movement now powers the “Jumbo” for the first time in 50 years. With this measure, Audemars Piguet wants to adapt the watch to modern lifestyles and thus open a new chapter for the icon of the house.
The case of the new Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin is made of either stainless steel, rose gold, yellow gold or platinum. The manufacture took care to retain the original dimensions. Thus, the diameter is still 39 mm with a height of 8.1 mm. Of course, the iconic case design with the visible hexagonal screws holding the watch together also remains. Further, water resistance stays at 50 meters. So overall, Audemars Piguet retains the successful design code, focusing instead on the dials and mechanics.
The four new models all feature exclusive dials. The stainless steel version comes with a dial that bears the in-house “Night Blue, Cloud 50” hue. The dial has a “Petite Tapisserie” guilloché pattern and hour indexes and hands in Baignoire shape. The latter allows luminous material to be poured in, as in a bathtub, thus ensuring readability. Typical of the “Jumbo” is the applied AP monogram in polished gold at 6 o’clock, which can also be found here. The date appears on a color-coordinated disc at 3 o’clock.
The two models in rose gold and yellow gold have dials with the “Petite Tapisserie” and fumy colors. The first “Jumbo” presents itself in a smoky gray tone and bears appliqués and Royal Oak hands in rose gold. The yellow gold case, on the other hand, has a gold-tone dial and matching indexes and hands. The smoky edge here comes from spraying a colored lacquer on the spinning dial. Here, too, the date disc matches the dial.
The special platinum model bears a smoked green face on a base with a sunburst finish. This combination was also already on display in 2021 on the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak models with green dials. The new “Jumbo” in platinum has applied indexes, the AP monogram at 6 o’clock, and Royal Oak hands that are in white gold.
The biggest innovation, however, is inside the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin. With the new generation, the watchmakers put into service the new caliber 7121. The development of this movement took five years because it had to fit into the case without the need to change its dimensions. Among the improvements is a larger mainspring barrel, which now offers a power autonomy of 55 hours. It also provides better rate stability over time. Practical improvements also include the integration of a patented date mechanism, which also features a quick-set function.
The rotor now sits on a ball bearing and has two ratchet wheels that allow winding from both sides. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, the open rotor bears a “50-years” logo. Also, the material matches the case, which was usually seen only on the complications. However, the “50-years” oscillating weight will only be found on the 2022 examples. In addition, the movement also bears other decorations. Thus, the upper side is decorated with “Geneva stripes” and “traits tirées” (line-cut), and Perlage can also be found.
Further, Audemars Piguet presents two new Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked, which reveal their mechanics through skeletonization. The new generation appears in the same 39 mm “Jumbo” case, made of either stainless steel or rose gold.
The dial here consists only of a flange with applied indexes in gold. However, to ensure readability, these bear luminous material, as do the hands. In this variant, the watchmakers do without a date function. But of course, the open movement dominates the front. Here, it goes by the name Caliber 7124 and appears in either rhodium tones or slate gray for the rose gold variant. This caliber was developed in parallel with the new caliber 7121 mentioned above and now appears for the first time in the two new Openworked models. In fact, the watchmakers paid attention to a harmonious geometry of the individual parts to create a balanced open variant.
The thin movement offers the same improvements as its sister movement. However, the power autonomy here, due to the lack of a date, is 57 hours. These two Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked also get the “50-years” oscillating weight as long as they are from 2022. The rotor here is of rhodium-colored 22-karat rose gold.
Both the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin and the Openworked are available from February 2022. Only the platinum-cased variant will be sold exclusively from the company’s own boutiques. All others are also available from authorized dealers. The price for the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin in stainless steel is 31,800 euros. For the two variants in gold cases, 67,700 euros are due. The special edition in platinum costs 109,500 euros. The Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin Openworked costs 86,800 euros in steel and 113,300 in rose gold.
