Monthly Archives: September 2017

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked In Platinum

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You say you want a 44mm-wide Royal Oak but you don’t want a Royal Oak Offshore? Well, one option is to just opt for this Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked. Sure, you need to invest in both the platinum case and skeletonized and decorated chronograph tourbillon movement – but isn’t it worth it? SIHH 2016 sees a few platinum-cased Royal Oak watches, as well as a healthy assortment in gold. In fact, there is but one steel-cased standard Royal Oak for 2016 – and it isn’t budget-priced either. Probably the most accessibly-priced (relatively speaking) Royal Oak watches for 2016 are the new Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph, but I digress. Let’s now talk about this very lovely new reference 26347PT.OO.D315CR.01 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked watch.

It is entirely possible that Audemars Piguet previously released a non-Offshore version of the Royal Oak in a 44mm-wide case, but I can’t seem to think of it. With that said, previous versions of the Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph may have actually had this larger case size because, in my recollection, they looked larger – but I wasn’t measuring at the time. What is probably new, however, is producing the Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph with a beautiful skeletonized (openworked) dial and movement. There is absolutely no shortage of new openworked watches from Audemars Piguet this year, but this particular model is a bit different for maintaining so much of the traditional dial so as to preserve as much legibility as possible. That means the subsidiary dials are totally intact as well as the hour markers and minute scale. Underneath, you see Audemars Piguet skilled decoration at its best in the calibre 2936 movement which is artistically cut up for your viewing pleasure.

The beauty of openworking is how many approaches there are to the concept. Look at a range of different skeletonized Audemars Piguet watches, and you’ll see how the designers there continue to experiment and play with different aesthetic approaches to the idea of artistically cutting away at “unnecessary” parts of the movement metal. This approach focuses mostly on thin, gracefully curved lines and an overall emphasis on shape. There is no hand-engraving, but rather brushed surfaces and, of course, polished beveled edges. I happen to really like this look, even though I equally appreciate other skeletonization techniques as well.

The calibre 2936 hand-wound movement is made up of 299 parts and operates at 3Hz (21,600 bph) with a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement is a rather thick 7.6mm, which is probably why Audemars Piguet designed this Royal Oak case to be 44mm, rather than, say, 41mm wide. It is possible that this is because the case needed to be thicker and the proportions of the Royal Oak would have been off if it looked too thick compared to its width. Unfortunately, no automatic winding or power reserve indicator in the movement, but it does offer the time with subsidiary seconds dial and 30-minute chronograph.

The 44mm-wide 950 platinum case of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph replica Openworked is matched with a blue and pink-gold-accented dial and matching blue alligator strap. It is a bit of a theme for Audemars Piguet to mix steel or platinum and pink gold for watches this year in 2016 – a design decision I take no issue with. I am not sure, but it also looks like in addition to the pink gold hands and hour markers, the skeletonized movement bridges might be in 18k pink gold as well.

Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Tourbillon Openworked Replica Watch

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Easily one of the most beautiful engraved and skeletonized watches at SIHH 2016 is the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Tourbillon Openworked. Classy, handsome, useful, and timeless, the Jules Audemars Tourbillon Openworked is an easy answer if you are ever asked the question, “what, other than a Royal Oak, would you recommend from Audemars Piguet?”

One of the reasons that the luxury watch industry has no qualms about producing a lot of skeletonized watches is that the technique so nicely asserts the value of a fine watchmaker. It doesn’t take too much to simply produce and assemble the parts necessary to create a mechanical movement. Companies in China do that every day for next to nothing. What does take a lot of work (in addition to making complicated watches that actually operate) is the meticulous effort and skill needed to finish, engrave, or otherwise decorate a mechanical watch. Thus, skeletonized watches offer without any obstruction a view of exactly where the value in a luxury watch exists. For the reference 26143PT.OO.D005CR.01 Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Tourbillon Openworked, Audemars Piguet didn’t just skeletonize the calibre 2875 movement, but it also richly engraved many of the surfaces.

This combination of an operworked dial with a skeletonized and engraved movement makes for something truly special. With that said, one should not discount the effort required in making the timepiece actually function as a legible wrist watch. Over the movement is a sapphire crystal disc which is for the most part transparent, but given applied 18k pink gold rings and hour markers, as well as anthracite smoked regions to enable legibility on the various subdials. The only sections of the dial which are truly open to the movement are a central ring in the upper subdial which indicates the hours and minutes, as well as the exposed window for the tourbillon.

Thus, Audemars Piguet has been able to fully showcase the beauty of skeletonization while maintaining adequate legibility when trying to read the time, date, or power reserve indicator. On top of that, the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Tourbillon Openworked  replica benefits from additional convenience by being an automatic.

To add to the prestigious nature of this watch, Audemars Piguet has produced the 41mm-wide case in solid 950 platinum. I have to say that it is a bit surprising how much platinum  are showing up in watches at SIHH. For a market that is yelling for more steel watches, I find it interesting to see brands also focus on producing timepieces in the most expensive of metals as well. Then again, for a skeletonized and engraved Audemars Piguet tourbillon, would you expect anything less?