We Thought AP's Royal Oak Was Peak Opulence — Then Came the Rainbow Gemstones
When Audemars Piguet opts to tweak its timeless Royal Oak, it usually goes for something subtle: a material upgrade or slight size alteration. Not so for its latest round of Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillons, which are the very definition of a statement piece.
Six styles of these handsome timepieces are on offer, each sporting a different take on the very fancy theme and offered atop a crocodile leather or mosiac strap. The crown jewels of the lot — pun intended — are two models that boast bezels and dials set with hundreds of multicolored gemstones that achieve a true rainbow effect.
To be specific, these rainbow-hued Royal Oaks sport a dozen types of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, topaz, and other precious stones: 468 brilliant or 207 baguette-cut gems, to be specific, arriving at very select in October 2021 and early 2022, respectively.
And then, to properly set off these indescribably opulent watches, their case is finished with either diamonds or more rainbow gemstones.
There are some (slightly) more understated Royal Oak watches here, too, wherein four models sport only blue sapphires. They're a little more toned-down, perhaps a little more tasteful but certainly no less exquisite.
It's kind of staggering to imagine what it'd feel like to walk around with one of these bad boys strapped to your wrist. Surely, one glimpse would pop the monocle or explode the top hat of any of the bluebloods at the yacht club.
Jokes aside, these are staggeringly luxe iterations of an already outrageously high-end timepiece. Audemars backs up its opulence with true craft. These Royal Oaks aren't lavish merely for the sake of it: they're demonstrative of AP at the peak of its elegance, true art pieces.
