A couple of weeks ago, Vacheron Constantin has revealed the new Patrimony Traditionnelle Calibre 2253 (ref. 88172/000P-9495) model featuring a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, a tourbillon, and, omg, an equation of time complication.
For this year, AP has presented a number of watches combining traditional material with carbon fiber. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Collection brings you three similarly styled models that will be produced in a total lot of 2475 pieces. Although the number of pieces set to be released makes the collection a 'limited edition' only in a very, um, technical way, there is at least one member of the collection that can be called 'exclusive'. Crafted from platinum and carbon fiber and boasting a price tag of approximately $130,000 USD (it will depend on the part of the world you live in,) the Ref. 26290PO.OO.A001VE.01's total production volume will be naturally limited by its outrageously high price.
The limited-edition Audemars Piguet Millenary Quincy Jones (ref. 15161SN.OO.D002CR.01) is just yet another example how two successful brands -one being a maker of all sorts of ultra-luxury timekeepers and the other being an American record producer, musician, holder of more than 25 Grammys, and basically one of a few people that can be called "a face of contemporary jazz"- can join their forces to make some more money.
Audemars Piguet has updated its 2009 Millenary Chronograph with a 2010 model that now offers a lot more appealing color scheme. Besides the new colors, the 2010 MY model sports the same off-centered dial with an extravagant combination of Roman numerals for the main dial and Arabic numerals for the tachymetric scale.
Embargoes or no embargoes, it is hard to keep photos of a new exciting product safely stored away when it's only a couple of clicks that are in the way between you and the hype train, so it's no wonder that pictures of the hand-wound Millenary Carbon One Tourbillon Chronograph (Ref. 26152AU.OO.D002CR.01) were available for some time now. However, it was only last week that Audemars Piguet officially presented the timepiece to the attendees of this year's SIHH 2010 event that was held in Geneva, Switzerland.
With its constant flow of stunningly beautiful timekeepers, the SIHH 2010 event was, perhaps, among the most exciting trade shows of the past years. The hand-wound Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph (Ref. 26288OF.OO.D002CR.01) bears that signature bulky presence with a massive rose gold body and a fixed bezel, which is crafted from forged carbon fiber.
At the SIHH 2010 trade show, Audemars Piguet has presented a bunch of new Royal Oak Offshore Chronographs. Although a normal AP ROO is usually associated with massive, larger than life cases that cover the whole width of your wrist (and then some) and, when done in denser alloys, often weigh so much you can use the darn thing for self-defense, this new line comes in a lot more compact cases that measure just 37 millimeters. Just think about it for a second: the device is actually smaller (not thinner though!) than a normal classic-styled three-hander! More than that, it is positioned as a unisex (i.e. suitable both for males, females, and all the genders in between) model!
The hand-wound 1815 Moonphase 212.050 arrives in a signature "honey gold" color courtesy of a particularly hard-to-scratch 18-karat gold alloy. Developed by A. Lange & Sohne, the gorgeous alloy sports a Vickers hardness rating between 300 and 320HV (on average, that is twice as high as that of white gold, which is usually considered to be the hardest among "standard" gold alloys.) The new member of the 1815 Collection features a beautifully executed moon-phase complication, which is not only pleasant to look at, but is also so accurate that it takes whole 1058 years for the calendar to miss a day from the lunar month.
