Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Noir

About the Watch

In 1971 Audemars Piguet realized that, without a disruptive change, a financial collapse was inevitable. Elaborating some feedback that they received from the Italian market about possible interest for a steel luxury watch, the management of the manufacture decided it was time to introduce something totally new, a sporty yet elegant timepiece as never seen before. The designer of choice for this task was a designer born in Geneva in 1931 from an Italian father and a Swiss mother: Gerald Genta. Not a new designer, rather one of the most famous watch designer at that time, having created successful watches for Universal Genève (Polerouter Microtors, White Shadow, Golden Shadow), Omega (Constellation) and Patek Philippe (Golden Ellipse).

The Royal Oak Offshore line was a subcollection of the Royal Oak first introduced in 1993, with its broader case giving a more masculin presence to the watch. To mark the collection's 30th anniversary, A.P. has unveiled the latest iteration of its Selfwinding Chronograph, now crafted in sleek black ceramic with a matching bracelet—a first for the brand. This stealthy reimagining of a classic design pays homage to the 1999 "End of Days" edition, created in collaboration with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The watch measures 42mm in diameter and 15.3mm in thickness, featuring a striking black petit tapisserie dial, a sapphire-titanium caseback, and refined white gold hands and indices. Powered by the Calibre 4404 automatic movement, it boasts flyback functionality, a robust 70-hour power reserve, and 100m water resistance, making it as durable as it is sophisticated.

About the Brand

The Manufacture was established in 1875 in Le Brassus, a village at the heart of La Vallée-de-Joux in the Swiss Jura, by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet, two enterprising young men who combined their talent to develop and produce watches featuring rare complications. Already in these early days, an Audemars-Piguet watch was prized by admirers of fine mechanical timepieces. Through determination, imagination and discipline, they inscribed their name on the wider history of watchmaking. The company they established has never left the hands of the founding families.