Meet the New Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT The latest in a pioneering collection of timepieces
Audemars Piguet ROYAL OAK CONCEPT FLYING TOURBILLON GMT 26589IOTwenty years ago, Audemars Piguet launched the first Royal Oak Concept, an extreme-looking watch (then and today) made of Alacrite 602 and titanium. Alacrite is a lightweight alloy mainly used in the aerospace industry. Not only is the design extreme, but the movement inside is also quite special. In addition to the tourbillon, the 2002 Royal Oak Concept was equipped with a Dymograph. The Dymograph indicates the torque of the mainspring at a specific moment.
That watch still looks impressive today. To my delight, Audemars Piguet let me try on its latest iteration while I was visiting the brand museum at Le Brassus the other day. This new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT is undoubtedly related to its 20-year-old brother. The similarities are obvious, but the impact is no less small. Over the years, Audemars Piguet has launched several Royal Oak Concepts, including the impressive Royal Oak Concept Laptop Chronograph Michael Schumacher.
Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT
With the Royal Oak Concept, Audemars Piguet introduced a breakthrough design both technically and aesthetically. Today, the manufacturer from Le Brassus presents its latest product, the 44mm Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT.
Breitling Endurance Pro Ironman 70.3 World ChampionshipThe large, complicated case is made of titanium, and this time, it's enriched by a beautiful green ceramic bezel. Camouflage-style green can also be found on the dial, but more on the movement and the skeletonized dial later.
Handmade
What makes the use of ceramic so well on this Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT (and on the recently introduced blue Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ref. 26579CS we write about here) so well because the finish is the same as the steel finish , and the precious metal Royal Oak model. It's all done by hand, which may be in stark contrast to the use of "modern" materials such as ceramics.
a secret combination
Green ceramics (ZrO2) are made up of secret ingredients, but AP lets us know that ceramic components only turn this deep green color after sintering at temperatures in excess of 1,400°C. Getting the right colors and doing so consistently is not an easy task. The secret composition of the material and the specific sintering temperature are crucial here.
luxury replica watchesAP Caliber 2954
Thanks to the skeletonized dial, the Caliber 2954 movement at the heart of the watch can be admired from both sides. The movement features PVD-treated black bridges and green inserts, adding a thin green layer to the parts through a chemical vapor deposition process. The green components of the dial complement the green ceramic bezel and, of course, the green rubber strap.
three crown positions
The hand-wound AP calibre 2954 features a flying tourbillon and a second time zone (GMT) function. At 6 o'clock on the dial, you will find the letters H (setting time), N (neutral) and R (winding movement). We've seen this happen before (including watches from other brands like Grönefeld), but it's still a useful and attractive feature.
Two discs in a second time zone
Using the green pusher at 4 o'clock, you can advance the hour hand. At 3 o'clock, you will see a second time zone display consisting of two discs. One is a sapphire with hour numerals that rotates every 12 hours. An additional day/night disc rotates every 24 hours, indicating day in white and night in green.
replica Richard Mille RM 11-03 WatchesTen-day power reserve
Finally, the AP calibre 2954 has two barrels that provide the watch with a power reserve of about ten days. There is a very clever mechanism behind this, providing constant power for 237 hours of autonomy. The gear train uses an ingenious mechanism to draw energy from the twin barrels simultaneously. This solution reduces pressure in the gearing and friction in the barrel, and increases precision, power reserve and reliability.
To complement the green and black design elements of the watch and movement, Audemars Piguet decided to use rose gold for the hands, the AP logo applied at 12 o’clock, and the flying tourbillon cage. The green crown also has a rose gold insert.
Royal Oak Concept Watch
Although the name may indicate otherwise, AP's Royal Oak Concept Watch is available to customers. They're expensive, but when you want to be at the forefront of groundbreaking watches, I guess that's what you have to live with. Over the past 20 years, I've come across several "real" Royal Oak concept watches and they've always impressed me. They are so different that you won't soon forget these special Audemars Piguet
buying replica watch.
