Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon Watch Review

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon Watch Review

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon Watch Review

Even of all the Royal Oaks and haute horology presented by Audemars Piguet 

For SIHH 2018, you could hardly overlook something as strange, bold, and exotic because the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT. This isn't one which grabs headlines for groundbreaking technology or significantly new the perception of the company in 2018, however it does introduce Audemars Piguet’s first flying tourbillon plus some design updates, which is the most recent inside a collection that's inherently polarizing and fascinating.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept has been available since 2002 and it has been the canvas for a few of the brand’s most avant-garde, advanced-searching haute horology creations. It appeared to accept concept of the Royal Oak Offshore to a much more “xtreme” and “xperimental” place. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon GMT arrived on the scene this year and introduced the fundamental form that people see ongoing here. More background: the flying tourbillon was invented in Germany in 1920. A flying tourbillon, simply to help remind you, is really a tourbillon that's suspended from underneath leading to both a look at it unobstructed by bridges, in addition to creating a type of floating effect. It's also one method to create a tourbillon much more delicate, complicated, and costly.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon Watch Review

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT really shares the designation as AP’s first flying tourbillon watch with another movement based in the gemstone-decked Royal Oak Concept Ladies’ Flying Tourbillon which was introduced concurrently for 2018. Additionally towards the tourbillon there are several other notable alterations in the look and materials with this new edition. Previous Royal Oak Concept watches used lots of ceramic along with other exotic materials within the movement for example carbon fibre - see our hands-up with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon with white-colored ceramic here.

Visible around the watch’s dial side, black sandblasted titanium was selected this time around for that central bridges, with polished and gold-toned facets - that is a awesome touch, for me. It's possible to also see glimpses of Audemars Piguet’s (in-house, obviously) 2954 movement through openings between your various indications. Aside from the some time and the tourbillon at 9 o’clock, there's the 2nd time zone indicated using a disc at 3 o’clock by having an aperture that sort of appears like certainly one of individuals wide date displays which have, thankfully, mostly gone from fashion. Partly revealed under smoked glass is negligence the disc not presently displaying time.

It might not be readily apparent exactly 

What the “H, N, R” at 6 o’clock is perfect for, however it simply signifies the crown setting. H is perfect for in france they heures (hrs) where one can set time, N is perfect for neutre (neutral) once the crown is pressed completely in, and R is perfect for remontoir (winder) where one can wind the movement. In the past Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon GMT watches, it was shown by a hands. New with this watch is really a disc indication that might be more stylishly built-into all of those other design. This is feasible for the consumer but obscure for that viewer who definitely are given an impact of something which just looks generally technical and complex.

The octagonally faceted bezel (still in ceramic) using its eight miraculously aligned screws most clearly ties the otherwise pretty distinctive Concept family towards the broader Royal Oak collection. The situation, however, is significantly not the same as other things at AP. Here, it's in sandblasted titanium. Its geometric facets - echoed within the bridges along with other elements - help remind me of the video mapping loop, an 8-bit mountain range, Kryton in the sci-fi britcom Red Dwarf, or possibly a Linde Werdelin Octopus watch - all fine watch design inspirations. It's 44mm wide, 16.1mm thick, and 100m water-resistant having a screw-lower crown. The situation is very lengthy, however, having a rubber strap that juts out of the lugs, so wrists that may otherwise accommodate a 44mm watch should watch out for potential overhang.

Also new for that GMT/tourbillon Royal Oak Concept watches may be the crown guard that comes with the pusher at 4 o’clock - now altered as much as be angular rather of round. That pusher advances the 2nd time zone’s disc by an hour or so. Like a pedantic aside, I have faith that within the most strict sense, watches denoted as “GMT” are “supposed to” display the 2nd time focus 24 hrs, whereas this second time zone disc shows 12 hrs.

As the flying tourbillon provides lots of dazzle 

And mechanical fascination around the dial side, it's not visible from the rear of the timepiece. Here, you can observe skeletonized bridges with mostly brushed and sandblasted finishing and a lot of movement. It's possible to also more clearly begin to see the two barrels as well as their mainsprings that offer a great 237 hrs (about ten days) of power reserve. Made from 348 parts and operating at 3Hz, the by hand-wound Audemars Piguet calibre 2954 is “new” using its flying tourbillon but shares a great deal that is similar to previous Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon GMT watches, such as the same frequency and power reserve - so it's much more of an evolution than a new challenge. Its bridge design differs, however, but that other changes include how a crown position indicator functions another way like a disc.

The tourbillon craze has died lower to some extent combined with the horological extravagance which was prominent a couple of years back, and much more brands are lately concentrating on mainstream and entry-level pieces, value, and lowering prices. Why create a flying tourbillon now? To remain competitive within the arena of ultra-luxury sport-style watches like individuals from Hublot, Richard Mille, and Roger Dubuis, maybe collectors have to be advised the Royal Oak Concept can nonetheless be fresh and then further evolve.