In 2023, Audemars Piguet marked the 30th anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore, a seminal modern luxury sports watch that sought to reinvent the magic of the original Audemars Piguet Royal Oak from 1972. About 20 years after the original, when Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak Offshore in 1993, its mission was very different even though its intention was to again develop a wristwatch platform that the brand could build upon for decades. Audemars Piguet worked with the designer Emmanuel Gueit for the Royal Oak Offshore, who reimagined the Royal Oak as a bulkier, sturdier, and more visually masculine timepiece for intense lifestyles. Recently, Audemars Piguet has again put attention on the Royal Oak Offshore with fresher in-house movements and an even more ambitious move upmarket. Today, I go hands-on with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 26420CE.OO.A043VE.01 in black and blue ceramic.
As of this writing, Audemars Piguet lists 13 different versions of the 43mm wide Royal Oak Offshore chrono on its website. Each version features the same core design and movement but offers different color schemes and material combinations. This is more distinctive because it mixes two ceramic colors including a black ceramic case and blue ceramic chronograph pushers, crown, and bezel. Some of the case hardware (such as screws and strap end links) is in titanium. Other materials currently used include steel, titanium, and 18k gold, plus a lot of diamonds if you want them.
The color scheme is moody but attractive and also trendy given that watches like the Rolex GMT-Master II “Batman” offer a similar color palette. The blue and black theme continues on the dial with a deep blue mega tapisserie dial texture as well as the silver rings around the recessed black subdials. Dial legibility is high thanks to the large hands and easy-to-see hour markers. Audemars Piguet has done a nice job of simultaneously modernizing the Royal Oak Offshore dial and keeping it instrumental and luxurious. A tough task, indeed.
Compared to Royal Oak Offshore watches of the recent past, what best distinguishes the new generation of Royal Oak Offshore 43mm wide watches is the novel in-houseAudemars Piguet 4400 series automatic movement. While Audemars Piguet has already introduced modern mechanical movements in most of its core collection models, many timepiece enthusiasts still recall when the otherwise lovely Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore models continued to use more legacy, less prestigious movements (even if they were finished beautifully). When you turn the watch over, you can admire the in-house caliber 4401 automatic movement. With very impressive decoration and style, the movement operates at 4Hz with about 70 hours of power reserve and is comprised of 381 parts. The movement features the time with subsidiary seconds, the date, and a flyback 12-hour chronograph.
One of the more interesting design choices on the dial is the complete elimination of the full “Audemars Piguet” brand name. Only the brand’s “AP” letters logo resides on the dial. This was an interesting move as it shows an Audemars Piguet brand that was (and likely still is) at the absolute peak of its confidence, believing that when someone sees this watch, there is no other brand that person could conceivably imagine the product to have originated from. In a lot of ways that is true, even though Audemars Piguet unfortunately cannot currently prevent other brands from using similar octagonal dials. Its hope nevertheless, is that nothing else on the market even looks remotely like a Royal Oak Offshore. In other ways (such as pricing), Audemars Piguet is increasingly trying to segment its watches in a class outside its normal timepiece product competition.
The overall wrist comfort of the 43mm Royal Oak Offshore Selfwind Chronograph is excellent. It is a large-wearing watch thanks to its broad lugs, thickness, and overall wrist presence, but it doesn’t feel larger than it needs to be and is suited for “big watch” tastes. The case, produced from mostly ceramic, is highly scratch-resistant and is also water-resistant to 100 meters. Compared to Royal Oak Offshores of old, this new generation Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph has a dial proportionally larger to the case and bezel, as compared to other, more legacy-styled Royal Oak Offshores. This fact changes the wrist presence of the timepiece and is a nice complement to the more traditional Royal Oak Offshore dial and case-wearing experience.
Given the high price point of the watch overall, Audemars Piguet paid close attention to the details, making sure that everything from the material surface textures to the strap quality feels top-notch. To that end, you can see very bold brushed lines in the ceramic and metal surfaces, as well as crisp colors and dial appliqués. Having said that, if you compare the Royal Oak Offshore to some of the competition on the market, the price delta with some other watches will be challenging to explain. Today, Audemars Piguet sees itself as more than just a traditional watchmaker, but also a lifestyle and quasi-jewelry brand. That means its products are, by design, intended to be both exclusive and out of reach.
What Audemars Piguet has maintained well with this and other Royal Oak watches is the “cool” factor. Wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore is still very cool from a fashion perspective, and the watch itself is still very cool from a timepiece product enthusiast’s perspective. Price for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 26420CE.OO.A043VE.01 in blue and black ceramic is $58,400 USD. Learn more at the Audemars Piguet website here.
