In the early hours of the Australian morning, the watch industry was celebrating its night of nights – the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) – more commonly known as the Oscars of watchmaking. Fifteen awards were given – along with a special jury prize for the George Daniels Educational Trust – adding up to a solid mix of safe bets and surprises. So without further ado, here are the best watches of 2016.
The word “audacious“ is invoked far too often in the world of watches, and though the Royal Oak may seem tame by today’s standards, it was truly audacious when it debuted in 1972. It was a precious timepiece in a non-precious metal, carrying a luxury price. Over the years, AP left well-enough alone, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, the Royal Oak stands as a design icon, and it is by far the best known Audemars Piguet collection.
The newest version of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar goes for what many would consider old-school horological luxury with its classical yellow gold case. The watch is powered by in-house Caliber 2120 and boasts a deep blue Grande Tapisserie-patterned dial. The calendar displays are on prominent subdials at 9 o’clock (day), 12 o’clock (month and leap-year), and 3 o’clock (date). In addition, an astronomical moon-phase display appears at 6 o’clock and the week of the year is indicated on a numbered 1-52 chapter ring surrounding the dial.
Genta presented his design for the Royal Oak to Audemars Piguet in 1970. As the story goes, Genta drew his design for the watch in one night, after being inspired by a diver wearing an old fashioned helmet attached to his suit by eight screws. This translated into the design of the watch, which features an octagonal shape with eight screws on the bezel. The octagonal design has remained even in the most recent incarnations of the watch, including the Royal Oak Offshore Diver pictured here, first unveiled in 2013.
Audemars Piguet introduces their Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher. A timepiece that took 5 years to develop after Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher asked AP to come up with a watch able to measure and record an extended series of consecutive lap times. Only 221 pieces of this Royal Oak Concept Laptimer will be produced to commemorate the number of F1 world championship point-winning races the German legend competed during his career.It is a Royal Oak Concept different from the ones we’ve seen before (here) or from the one that AP showed us during the SIHH 2015 (a loud minute repeater). In that respect, it is quite unexpected that AP introduces this Royal Oak Concept Laptimer. It is not the first watch with a laptimer counter, but the first one that is mechanical.
