After the unveiling of Audemars Piguet’s new partnership with Marvel (yes the brand has already identified the first three heroes for their watches and Iron Man ain’t one of them) a highly pertinent question was poised. And that was “François (Bennahmias) if you had a super power what would it be?”

Earlier in the presentation Bennahmias had declared that power to be “passion.” But in reality his super power is to make watches that you are unable to stop yourself from buying, because they really are that good. And I mean mortgage the house, sell a kidney, auction off a cornea kind of overwhelming compulsion to acquire those watches. That is of course if you are fortunate enough to be allocated one.

Which brings me to the very first Audemars Piguet launched in 2021, a staggeringly beautiful Royal Oak Ultra-Thin reference 15202, featuring the legendary Calibre 2121, now featuring a shimmering green fume, sunray motif dial that is beautiful enough to stop your heart.

Now let’s pause for a moment to acknowledge that this is not so much a watch but a symbol that Audemars Piguet loves you if you are lucky enough to be given the privilege to purchase one. Created to celebrate Audemars Piguet House, the forward thinking residential retail concept that has launched in London, Hong Kong and soon in New York’s Meatpacking District, in a space just above the always packed Pastis restaurant and will be available exclusively to Audemars Piguet House customers.

Made in just a limited series of 100 watches the message is clearly, “This is dope, really dope, but I’m sorry it’s already sold out and trading on the secondary market for a kajillion dollars over retail.” OK stop sobbing and put down the tissue. To soothe your watch deprived soul, I believe that Audemars Piguet will continue with the green dial majesty with a yellow gold, green dial Royal Oak chronograph which is worthy of multiple “fire” emoticons on Instagram, an ultra-cool titanium self-winding Royal Oak tourbillon with — get this — an emerald set bezel and a few others including a rose gold tourbillon. But to me the titanium emerald watch is the one to have and demonstrates that Audemars Piguet perfectly understands the trend for men’s gem set watches. Expect to see Mark Whalberg wearing this in the not too distant future.

The other big news for the Royal Oak is that the integrated chronograph movement Calibre 4401, launched in the Code 11.59, will now be offered in the Royal Oak Chronograph slowly phasing out the Frederic Piguet movement that’s been inside this watch since launch back in 1988. Accordingly the watch will also feature a sapphire case back to allow you to appropriately revel in the in-house majesty of the movement contained.

This calibre goes back to the day François-Henry Bennahmias took over Audemars Piguet, got his team in a room and recited to them his favourite words from Jedi Master, Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try,” and basically gave them the ultimatum of creating an in-house integrated chronograph movement, or else.

You can now conjure up the image of Bennahmias doing a throw slitting gesture, while quietly, but very threateningly hissing. The two watches featuring the movement are both yellow gold and feature either a blue dial with gold subdials or a brown dial with gold subdials and can be had on leather strap or bracelet.

Probably the biggest news is the launch of a new 43mm Royal Oak Offshore with a focus on softening the edges, and creating a far more ergonomic — and within the context of a big bruising sports watch — more elegant timepiece. I have to say I love it. This watch basically looks back at the evolution of the Offshore and takes its cues from watches such as the Juan Pablo Montoya Offshore that used long thin flat pushers instead of the nitrile (rubber) coated round ones found in Emmanuel Gueit’s original design, from 1993.

This watch comes at a good time. As we can see first generation Royal Oak Offshores are trending upwards big time and have increased in value a good 50 percent in the last two years. The great thing is that Audemars Piguet still makes this watch, which it calls its 42 mm Offshore. The 44mm Offshore also exists and is the platform for all of AP’s material innovation, notably multi coloured ceramics.

But the 43mm is an altogether different beast. It is more shaped and svelte than the other two watches and despite having a fierce presence on the wrist is remarkably easy to wear. It is also a bit retro themed as it features the combination of a stainless steel and a ceramic bezel that visually reminds us of the famous rubber clad offshores which are still some of my favourite watches. It is also offered in a full stainless version.

The big news also extends to the Royal Oak Offshore Diver family which is now offered in a 42mm version replete with some genuinely cool colours. What is also cool is that all the Offshores discussed come with a detachable bracelet that features an easy system to swap in between rubber and leather units.

Finally the AP Code 11.59 which was successfully extended last year with the colored fume dials comes back this year with a new ceramic mid case which serves well to highlight the complexity of the construction. What ultimately took the cake at Audemars Piguet’s press launch was the announcement of their partnership with Marvel which was presented to us together with Don Cheadle, who was instrumental in putting the deal together. Other than that Bennahmias also dropped that the legendary Star Wheel will be returning kicking off an exciting year for one of the most innovative brands in high watchmaking!

Tech Specs

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 2121; 40 hours power reserve; 3.05 mm thick; 2.75 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: 950 platinum case; glare proof sapphire crystal and caseback; water-resistant to 50 m. Smoked green dial with sunburst pattern; white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.
Bracelet: 950 platinum bracelet with AP folding clasp.
Price: SGD 146,600

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 2950; 65 hours power reserve; 3 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: 41 mm titanium case; 18-carat white gold bezel set with baguette-cut emeralds (~2.41 carats); glare proof sapphire crystal and caseback; screw-locked crown; water-resistant to 50 m. Green dial with “Evolutive Tapisserie” pattern; white gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.
Bracelet: Titanium bracelet with AP folding clasp.
Price: CHF 273,000

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 2385; 40 hours power reserve; 3 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: 18-carat yellow gold case; glare proof sapphire crystal; screw-locked crown; water-resistant to 50 m. Green dial with “Grande Tapisserie” pattern; yellow gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.
Bracelet: 18-carat yellow gold bracelet with AP folding clasp; two additional straps in calfskin and green rubber.
Price: SGD 103,900

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 2950; 65 hours power reserve; 3 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: 18-carat pink gold case; glare proof sapphire crystal; screw-locked crown; water-resistant to 50 m. Green dial with “Grande Tapisserie” pattern; pink gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.
Bracelet: 18-carat pink gold bracelet with AP folding clasp
Price: CHF 170,000

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 4401; 70 hours power reserve; 4 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: 18-carat pink gold case; glare proof sapphire crystal; screw-locked crown; water-resistant to 50 m. Blue or brown dial with “Grande Tapisserie” pattern; pink gold toned counters, pink gold applied-hour markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.
Bracelet: 18-carat pink gold bracelet with AP folding clasp/ Alligator Strap
Price: SGD 63,000 for leather strap versions and SGD 92,100 for models with gold bracelets

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 2967; 65 hours power reserve; 3 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: Sandblasted titanium; glare proof sapphire crystal and casebackl; black ceramic push pieces and screwed-locked crown; sandblasted titanium pushpiece guards and studs; water-resistant to 100m.
Black inner bezel;black chronograph rings; 18-carat white gold hands.
Strap: Interchangeable black rubber strap with sandblasted titanium folding clasp. Additional interchangeable black alligator strap.
Price: CHF 242,100

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 4308; 60 hours power reserve; 4 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: Stainless steel case; glare proof sapphire crystal and caseback; black ceramic screw-locked crowns; water-resistant to 300 m.
Khaki green/Navy blue/ Grey dial with “Mega Tapisserie” pattern; applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating; rotating inner bezel with zone from 60 to 15 minutes in beige.
Strap: Interchangeable green/blue/grey coloured rubber strap with stainless steel pin buckle. An additional black rubber strap is included.
Price: SGD 35,200

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 4401; 70 hours power reserve; 4 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: Black ceramic middle case; 18-carat white gold bezel, lugs, caseback, crown and push pieces;double curved glare proof sapphire crystal; glare proof sapphire caseback; water-resistant to 30 m.
Smoked grey dial with a vertical satin-brushed base; white gold applied hour-markers and hands, opaline black inner bezel.
Strap: Black rubber-coated strap with 18-carat white gold pin buckle.
Price: SGD 62,900

Movement: Selfwinding Manufacture Calibre 4401; 4 Hz frequency
Case & Dial: 18-carat pink gold case; black ceramic bezel; push pieces and screw-locked crown; 18-carat pink gold push piece guards; glare-proof sapphire crystal and caseback; water-resistant to 100 m. Black dial with “Méga Tapisserie” pattern; rhodium-toned counters and external zone; pink gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating; black inner bezel.
Strap: Black rubber strap with 18k pink gold AP pin buckle and interchangeable strap system. Additional black alligator strap.
Price: SGD 77,900