What do Audemars Piguet and music have in common? A lot. Apart from producing chiming watches, the Swiss Manufacture had its first collaboration in 2005 with Jay-Z to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his career, unveiling a Royal Oak Offshore limited edition accompanied by an iPod containing the artist’s discography. In 2009, it collaborated with Quincy Jones, who shares the values of the Manufacture such as technical mastery, precision and a taste for innovation.
Apart from collaboration with pop celebrities, the brand in 2006 embarked on research into the acoustic development of striking watches in partnership with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and a panel of experts composed of watchmakers, engineers, musicians and sound specialists.
This project was eight years in the making, resulting in the development of a system that combines a chiming mechanism with an innovative case that marked a significant advance in terms of acoustic performance, sound amplification and sonic quality.
In 2010, Audemars Piguet continued in its musical journey by joining the Claude Nobs Foundation and EPFL in supporting the Montreux Jazz Digital Project. This project has enabled the digitisation, conservation and enrichment of the festival’s entire audiovisual archives, listed on Unesco’s “Memory of the World” programme. In 2022, the Manufacture added DJ, composer and producer Mark Ronson as an ambassador and worked with him on various inspirational projects.
Blue aventurine dial set with coloured “Harmony”-cut stones forming a VU meter, white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating / 37 mm
Blue dial with printed VU meter, white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating / 37 mm
See also: Defying traditions
Blue aventurine dial set with coloured “Harmony”-cut stones forming a VU meter, white gold applied hour- markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating / 43 mm
Blue dial with offset VU meter, white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating / 43 mm
See also: Testing QA Urban luxury
Black dial with printed VU meter, white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating / 43 mm
Music and time
This year, Audemars Piguet has another hit on its hand with the unveiling of five new Royal Oak Offshore references. The new Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Music Edition models feature a Tapisserie dial reproducing the motifs of an equaliser, knurled-textured studs reminiscent of jack plugs and crown guards similar to the fader on mixing consoles. Other features include a sapphire crystal curved along the 6 to 12 o’clock axis as well as enlarged bevels; these self-winding hours, minutes and seconds models have a pop-style appearance.
There are two models made of titanium and available in 37 mm and 43 mm diameters. Both feature a blue dial that serves as a background for the printed coloured VU meter, creating a shimmering contrast. The AP monogram on the dial is in polished white gold at 12 o’clock, as well as 18-carat white gold hour-markers and hands with a luminescent coating.
The 37 mm model has the aesthetic codes of the Royal Oak Offshore chronographs of the same diameter and also picks up the enlarged bevels and the curved crystal of the 43 mm iterations. It is without a date window which means ample space for the coloured equaliser motif. The timepiece has an interchangeable blue rubber strap bearing a “mosaic effect” pattern to match the dial colour. This is the first time a 37 mm model has featured the interchangeable strap system introduced by the Manufacture in 2021 on the Royal Oak Offshore collection.
The 43 mm version is a continuation of the models launched in 2021. It has an interchangeable blue rubber strap matching
the dial, with three additional turquoise, yellow and green rubber straps supplied in the presentation box.
The collection also features two white gold 37 mm and 43 mm models whose dial and bezel are set with coloured “Harmony”-cut stones. Both versions feature a blue aventurine dial depicting a musical VU meter, as found on the titanium models.
The 10 colours comprising the columns of the equaliser are achieved here by using the invisible setting technique for various gems: rubies, peridots, tsavorites, green, blue and orange sapphires. Similar coloured stones (rubies, tsavorites, yellow, orange, green and blue sapphires) adorn the bezels of both references, harmoniously matching the shades of the dial.
The 37 mm reference has 166 stones, while the 43 mm variant shines with 230 stones. Like the titanium models, these two references feature the polished AP monogram at 12 o’clock as well as 18-carat white gold hour-markers and hands. They are completed by a blue interchangeable strap — with a “mosaic effect” motif for the 37 mm reference — and come with three additional rubber straps in turquoise, yellow and green.
The 43 mm model completes the collection in black ceramic. The monochrome aesthetic is contrasted by titanium elements: the studs are inspired by the jack pattern, the fader-inspired crown guards and the strap pin buckle.
These Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Music Edition models are driven by two self-winding hours, minutes and seconds movements without date indication in order to keep the spotlight on the coloured pattern of the dial.
