Basel/SIHH 2015 - Live Photos of a Very Special Piece - AP Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph

Live Photos of a Very Special Piece - AP Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph

Jan 24, 2010,14:28 PM

PuristSPro's 2010 SIHH Live Reporting by Z3

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph in RG

(...with Appearances by Two Very Special Guests!)

This is the new high complication Offshore introduced this year. The piece is so popular that I couldn't get a chance to look at it during the previous appointment.

Then on the very last day of SIHH, I was fortunate enough to run into Mr. Martin Wehrli - a veteran "AP" man for almost four decades, the director of the AP museum, and a walking encyclopedia of AP history and fine watch-making. He offered to show me the new Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph in a private room. Needless to say, I was ecstatic!

Here are the live photos - a massive piece (44mm, thicker and larger than the regular ROO, but in my humble experience still quite "wearable" on the wrist compared to T3, Shaq, and Arnold All-Stars ROO) with rose gold, forged carbon bezel and ceramic crown and pushers, plus a case with attractive and consistent color combination (predominately rose gold, plus various shades of silver, gray and black).

The movement is Calibre 2912. The dial is openworked to show the details of this cool and sophisticated movement, featuring:

- High-performance chronograph with column-wheel and coupling lever

- Tourbillon composed of more than 70 parts

- 237-hour power reserve

- Twin fast-rotating barrels

Comparing size and thickness with my Survivor (sorry for this unconventional comparison, but the Survivor was the only watch on me and the only one available watch in the room).

Mr. Wehrli modeling the watch...

As I was shooting the watch, another jovial gentleman joined us in the room....

It's no other than the designer of the Royal Oak himself - Mr. Gerald Genta! What an honor!

Mr. Genta, with a rare version of the original Royal Oak with gold bezel on his wrist, handles the Tourbillon Chronograph and the Survivor...

The two titans of the industry were both amused and shocked, if not a bit confused and discomforted, by how the original Royal Oak has evolved to what we see today=)