It’s a testomony to the greatness of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak that the model can proceed to iterate on it time and time once more with out the mannequin ever feeling stale. We’ve seen variations of the Gérald Genta-designed icon in stainless-steel, ceramic, and yellow gold. It’s been augmented with easy date shows and wildly advanced tourbillons. Everybody from Alyx’s Matthew Williams and John Mayer to Travis Scott and KAWS has remixed the sporty timepiece. And but, we’re nonetheless out right here hungry for extra. The Royal Oak is relentless.
In the present day, with 2025 marking AP’s one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, the model has simply unveiled its first massive batch of releases for the 12 months—and, to the shock of actually nobody, there are a bunch of attractive new Royal Oaks within the combine. Let’s dive in for a better look.
The brand new Royal Oaks enhance on its most prestigious operate
The perpetual calendar—a operate that may precisely monitor the day, date, and month till the 12 months 2100—is among the most technically difficult problems in watches. Audemars Piguet refers to it because the Quantieme Perpetuel, and it’s turn into a fixture on its Royal Oak. “It isn’t an overstatement that the Royal Oak QP has sparked a mass understanding and appreciation of perpetual calendars,” John Mayer, an AP collaborator, advised GQ final 12 months.
Now, AP has revamped its QP for its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. It is perhaps arduous to understand in pictures alone, however the watch’s operate has dramatically improved. Usually, you want a small instrument (they give the impression of being form of like small fountain pens) to set a perpetual calendar, which makes the entire ordeal fairly a problem. Now, wearers will have the ability to change each studying on the watch by means of its crown alone. For somebody who doesn’t really put on a QP, which may not sound like an enormous deal, however that is the kind of stuff that drives collectors loopy (For proof, see Ben Clymer’s current listing of gripes at Hodinkee.)
