In the run up to the Watches & Wonders show taking place in Hong Kong at the end of this month, Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet has announced its newest sports watch, the Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillion Chronograph with a peripheral oscillating weight visible through the dial. 2010 saw Audemars Piguet introduce the first Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillion Chronograph featuring a hand-wound movement and a case incorporating forged carbon and ceramic. Since then, we have witnessed numerous other interpretations of the tourbillion chronograph including limited editions in titanium, platinum, and pink gold with various manually-wound movements and ceramic accents. After four years, the brand has come up with the entirely new Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillion chronograph which is powered by a new automatic caliber, the 2897. The new chronograph continues with the familiar Offshore case shape but all the high-tech materials used to craft the watch add to its sporty appeal.
The forged carbon case of the new AP chronograph is accented with a black ceramic bezel, crown, and pushers, plus large titanium pusher guards. The case measures at 44mm in diameter and 14mm in thickness. The new Selfwinding Tourbillion Chronograph (reference 26550AU) offers some familiar features to the original from 2010, along with some new flourishes and technological improvements. It has 34 jewels, 21,600vph and a power reserve of 65 hours. The watch also features a variable-inertia balance wheel with screws and balance-spring with Phillips terminal curve. The tourbillion has a blackened titanium bridge. It has a black dial with “Méga Tapisserie” pattern, black counters, gold applied hour-markers and gold Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating and the inner ring is sapphire. The Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillion Chronograph is a limited edition of only 50 pieces and the official pricing is yet to be announced but we expect it to be pegged around $300,000.
[Via – Timezone]
