The Travis Scott x AP Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack”

Collaborations and watches impressed by pop and avenue tradition are, surely, an necessary a part of Audemars Piguet‘s latest historical past. No different model on the haute horlogerie scene has fostered such inventive synergies with completely different universes. Sport, popular culture, artwork, trend and leisure… It appears at issues from a unique perspective, prefer it or not. This yr, Audemars Piguet unveils a brand new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked restricted version in collaboration with model and label Cactus Jack, based by American hip-hop artist Travis Scott. And sure, it’s certainly “The Chocolate AP,” as Travis Scott likes to name it in his newest album. Yet one more polarizing collaboration with a barely controversial artist, however one that really appears spectacular. 

AP x Collabs

As most of you may know, this new mannequin isn’t the primary time the Swiss watchmaker ventured into the world of music and sport, and particularly hip-hop and basketball tradition. Removed from that! As primed examples, we are able to identify, amongst others, collaborations with Jay-Z (2005) and LeBron James (2013). The model has made a reputation for itself on this area because the early 2000s, to the purpose that AP has since turn out to be one of the vital quoted manufacturers in rap songs. It may not be one thing that talks to your entire spectrum of the accumulating neighborhood and to a large viewers of watch lovers, but it surely has definitely introduced the model beneath the highlight, making it seen to many extra individuals than simply watch lovers. A profitable technique…? gross sales figures of the model in recent times, you could possibly say so. A protracted-term achievement? Time will inform.

What we’ve got to contemplate proper now’s the model’s newest collaboration, a watch made along with one of the vital profitable rap artists in recent times, Travis Scott and his label Cactus Jack. It isn’t the primary time the person has teamed up with different manufacturers to create distinctive, collectable objects – test this for an summary of his most famed collabs, together with a number of takes on the emblematic Air Jordan sneakers or the official Cactus Jack x Dior capsule.

The Chocolate AP by Travis Scott

For this new collaborative mission, the watch of selection isn’t simply an ordinary Royal Oak (if a Royal Oak might be known as this…) It’s really based mostly on one of the vital fascinating, daring and intricately completed editions of the RO, the Perpetual Calendar Openworked Black Ceramic. However what Travis Scott and his label Cactus Jack have achieved goes method past just some particulars on the dial, a brand new strap and an engraving on the caseback. The Travis Scott x Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked Cactus Jack Restricted Version 26585CM (a mouthful identify, admittedly) brings an unprecedented color for the ceramic case, a dial stuffed with particulars and distinctive options and, total, a surprisingly constant design. I’d not have anticipated this, however the consequence, if daring and polarizing, is somewhat wonderful.

The AP x Travis Scott Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked is in the beginning an impressively technical and high-end watch. Regardless of the modernity of the design and color scheme, it stays a watch from true haute horlogerie stage. It’s not only a stamped brand on a base mannequin. Visually talking, we’re on acquainted grounds, with the traditional look of the RO Perpetual. Right here, Audemars Piguet presents its first Royal Oak mannequin in brown ceramic, which is the signature color of Cactus Jack (which is the central theme of his Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro Excessive OG SP or the Dior capsule assortment).

Used for the case, bezel, crown and caseback, ceramic (or Zirconium Oxide powder Zr2O, if you wish to be exact) has lengthy been utilized by AP for the Royal Oak Perpetual, which we’ve seen already in black, white and even blue with closed dials. As for the Openworked model, black was the one possibility up to now. Travis Scott determined to convey his favorite color, with a chocolate brown tone from head to toe… And as all the time with ceramic, attaining uniform color is a fragile and essential stage, earlier than the parts are completed by hand to succeed in the identical stage of precision as what’s discovered on a steel model. The case retains all of the traditional options and finishes of a metal or gold RO, with the octagonal bezel and case alternating satin-brushed surfaces and polished chamfers.

The case of this AP x Travis Scott Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar, aside from the unprecedented brown ceramic, is similar to all earlier editions, with a 41mm diameter and comparatively skinny 9.9mm thickness. The bezel retains the standard hexagonal white gold screws in addition to the flat sapphire crystal defending the dial, right here revealing the fantastic thing about the in-house skeletonized motion. Regardless of the screw-lock crown and screwed again, which incorporates a sapphire window, the watch is just waterproof to 20m, a standard function of all ceramic QPs. On the wrist, it’s a comparatively light-weight watch – the mixture of a strap and the ceramic makes it extremely nice on the wrist – and one that’s, from a sure distance, not too hanging visually. The chocolate brown color is extra delicate than one may think about. It blends effectively with all the opposite parts of the watch, together with the particular strap and the discreet gold accents.

We proceed on the dial the place this Travis Scott x Audemars Piguet Chocolate Brown Royal Oak brings a ton of distinctive particulars… Whereas the format and the indications are classics for the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked, the Cactus Jack restricted version adjustments virtually all design particulars. The sapphire dial reveals many of the delicately completed motion, which is right here rhodium-plated with discreet pink-gold-toned hues. The mesmerizing intertwining of gears, springs and ranges is barely hidden beneath the clear indications, which includes, as all the time, the week numbers on the internal flange, hours and minutes within the centre and a perpetual calendar with date, day of the week, month, intercalary year and double-moon.

The evolution in comparison with a traditional RO Perpetual Calendar Openworked are numerous. First, the skinny circle surrounding the day, month and date subdials respectively positioned at 9, 12 and three o’clock have been handled in a rose gold color, pairing properly with the brown tone of the case. The hour, minute and counters fingers, just like the hour markers inserted throughout the seconds scale, are crafted in gold and lined with brown PVD earlier than being full of a white luminescent materials that turns blue at the hours of darkness. Lastly, a number of parts on the dial check with the visible identification of Travis Scott’s model, Cactus Jack.

First, AP’s crew has specifically designed the typography of the calendar indications based mostly on Travis Scott’s hand-drawn mannequin, which may be discovered on the week indication too, on the internal flange. The hand of the day subdial takes on the form of the model’s brand. And essentially the most distinctive ingredient of the dial is, surely, the design of the moon section at 6 o’clock. The normal photorealistic illustration of Earth’s pure satellite tv for pc has been changed by Cactus Jack’s emblematic smiley face with its mouth sewn shut on a blue aventurine base, with the face’s luminescent coating glowing blue at the hours of darkness. All different calendar indications, excluding the week indication, are endowed with a luminescent materials that turns inexperienced at night time for a hanging luminous impact.