Tom Kim won his third PGA Tour event this weekend with the successful defense of the Shriners Children’s Open. The South Korean won the 2022 event and held off Adam Hadwin this year to add another victory to his young career. When he was presented with the crystal trophy, Tom was wearing a very rare and sought-after watch on his wrist: an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked in Black Ceramic.

WOTW Specs

Name: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked
Reference: 15416CE.OO.1225CE.01
Limited: Limited Production
Date: 2020 – Current
Case: Black Ceramic
Bezel: Black Ceramic
Dial: Openworked Slate Grey
Size: 41mm
Movement: Calibre 3132, 38 Jewels
Power Reserve: 45 Hours
Glass: Saphire Crystal
Waterproof: 50 Meters
Bracelet: Black Ceramic
Price: $98,100 (~$295,000)

Tom Kim is an Audemars Piguet ambassador, and we have seen him in a few great pieces over his short professional career. I think he obtained this rare and highly collectible Royal Oak back in February this year when he posted it on Instagram. He captioned the post “Dream Piece” and I am willing to bet it would be high on the list of any collector.

 

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Audemars Piguet does one of the best skeleton, or as they call it, Openworked, dials in the watch world. This Black Ceramic model is the most expensive and coveted on the secondary market compared to its stainless steel and rose gold siblings. These Openworked models are only offered to Audemars Piguet’s best clients who have a long history with them.

The case is 41mm and made from black ceramic that is highly scratch-resistant and more durable than you would expect. Most of us think of ceramic as brittle plates and tiles, but AP worked for years to come up with a more durable formula that can take a few bumps and knocks without shattering. The iconic octagon Royal Oak bezel is made from matching black ceramic and held in place with eight hex screws. The caseback features a large sapphire crystal window so you can view the back of the movement, while the skeleton dial gives you the rare view of the front. The dial is listed as Openworked Slate Grey, but the grey is really the baseplate for the movement, where most of the 245 parts are attached. Pink gold hands and hour markers stand out subtly and make the dial somewhat easier to read.

This movement we get to see is AP’s Calibre 3132, a self-winding movement made in-house by Audemars Piguet. A pink gold bridge holds one of the two balance wheels in place and stands out in the lower right quadrant of the dial. Two balance wheels and springs are mounted on the same axis to add stability and increase precision from the springs. This automatic movement is wound by the natural movement of the wearer’s wrist as a pink gold rotor spins on bearings. The 3132 contains 38 jewel bearings and offers around 45 hours of power reserve.

A Royal Oak bracelet flows seamlessly from the case and is made from full black ceramic. The top and underside of the case are a brushed finish while the angled sides are high polish. This unique finish isn’t easy to do on ceramic — as it is much harder than steel — and can take over 30 hours to complete. The folding clasp has dual triggers to release it and there is an AP logo on the outside.

Now this is not a watch that you can just walk into your Audemars Piguet dealer and buy for its $98,100 price. These Openworked models, especially the Black Ceramic, are only offered to AP’s best clients, so the supply is very limited. On the secondary market, if you can get your hands on one, expect to pay around $295,000 for one in very good condition.

Viktor Hovland just won the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup in convincing fashion! Viktor played some amazing golf over the past few weeks and capped it off with a five-stroke victory over Xander Schauffele. As Hovland collected his many trophies from the win, he was wearing a rare and collectible Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in Pink Gold on his wrist.

WOTW Specs

Name: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin
Reference: 16202OR.OO.1240OR.02
Limited: No
Date: 2022
Case: 18ct Pink Gold
Bezel: 18ct Pink Gold
Dial: Smoke Grey “Petite Tapisserie”
Size: 39mm
Movement: Calibre 7121, 33 Jewels
Power Reserve: 52 Hours
Glass: Saphire Crystal
Waterproof: 50 Meters
Bracelet: 18ct Pink Gold
Price: $78,300 (~$130,000)

One of the most famous and collectible watches in the world is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. The Royal Oak has been in production since 1972 when Gérald Genta designed the sports watch. That was a time when cheaper quartz watches were booming and boasting more accuracy than the Swiss timepieces. The Royal Oak debuted as a very large and very expensive sports watch that many thought would never sell. Well, it did sell and is now an icon of luxury watch design. The watch Viktor is wearing could be the standard Jumbo or the 50th Anniversary model, but the only way to tell is to see the back of the watch.

Audemars Piguet’s “Jumbo” Extra Thin Royal Oak takes its size from the original 1972 watch that was so famous. The jumbo nickname stuck because at the time 39mm was a very big watch. The case is 39mm and made from solid, 18-carat pink gold with a display window in the caseback to view the movement. There is a matching pink gold crown on the right side of the case and screws down to help give the watch a 50-meter water resistance rating. The beautiful and famous octagon bezel sits on top of the case and is crafted from matching pink gold and held in place with 8 hex screws. This bezel holds the extremely scratch-resistant, glare-proofed sapphire crystal in place.

A smoked grey dial is finished with Audemars Piguet’s “Petite Tapisserie” pattern. The “Petite Tapisserie” texture features the smallest square pattern with a milling throughout it. Audemars Piguet used a similar tapisserie dial in the Royal Oaks from the 1980s and 1990s. AP currently uses the “Grande Tapisserie” with the Royal Oak and the “Méga Tapisserie” textures with the larger Royal Oak Offshore models.

Inside the Jumbo is Audemars Piguet’s self-winding Calibre 7121 movement. Made up of 268 pieces, the precise movement is engineered to keep the hours, minutes, seconds, and date. One can expect to get around 52 hours of power reserve out of the movement and it runs smoothly at 28,800 vph on 33 synthetic sapphire jewels. The winding rotor is made from solid 22k gold and features the AP initials in it. Now there is a version of this exact watch that celebrates 50 years of the Royal Oak. The difference is that the rotor on the anniversary model has a “50 Years” logo crafted into the rotor. A classic Royal Oak bracelet is attached and made from solid links of 18ct Pink Gold. The brushed finish on all of the lugs is done perfectly so all of the links have the same grain on them. An AP logo is etched into the folding clasp and brings the bracelet together.

If you can find one of these Royal Oak models at your local dealer, expect to pay $78,300 to get it on your wrist. On the secondary market, you will need to almost double that amount to get one, $130,000. If you want one of the 50th Anniversary models, add another $25,000 to that secondary market price.

Viktor Hovland made 10 birdies to shoot the course record 61 at Olympia Fields to win the BMW Championship. Hovland fought off some big names on Sunday but walked away with a two-stroke victory over Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick. While celebrating his win, Viktor was wearing a very special, extremely rare Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar on his wrist.

WOTW Specs

Name: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
Reference: 26579CB.OO.1225CB.01
Limited: No, Limited Production
Date: 2019
Case: White Ceramic
Bezel: White Ceramic
Dial: Blue “Grande Tapisserie”
Size: 41mm
Movement: Calibre 5134, 38 Jewels
Power Reserve: 40 Hours
Glass: Saphire Crystal
Waterproof: 20 Meters
Bracelet: White Ceramic Royal Oak
Price: $93,900 (~$285,000)

Audemars Piguet is no stranger to pushing the limits of watch design, that is how the Royal Oak came to life. Back in 1972, now legendary watch designer Gérald Genta, created the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet to combat the “quartz crisis” that was taking over the watch world. The first Royal Oak was too big, too expensive, and it probably saved the Swiss luxury sports watch market. AP has pushed the limits with design and materials for their watches over the years by using titanium, carbon fiber, and ceramic. Audemars Piguet doesn’t list this Royal Oak as a limited edition, but more of a limited production model that only AP’s top clients get access to.

Audemars Piguet has been making a Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar since 2015 but released this ceramic version in 2019. And this isn’t the first white ceramic watch that AP has graced us with, they have been working with the material for 10 years. Viktor’s rare Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar has a 41mm case that is made from White Ceramic with a matching ceramic crown on the right side. There aren’t too many external pieces of the watch that aren’t ceramic, but the caseback is made from stainless steel and contains a sapphire crystal window to view the mechanical movement. Eight screws hold the caseback in place and seal the case for a 20-meter water resistance rating.

The absolutely iconic octagon, Royal Oak, is also crafted from White Ceramic and is held down with 8 hex screws. A beautiful dark blue dial is treated with AP’s Grande Tapisserie pattern of raised squares that are further textured for a unique but classic look. White subdials surround the dial to tell the month, day, date, moon phase, and even if it is a leap year. White gold hour makers and main hands are polished for a mirror-like finish and filled with a luminous material for reading in low light.

The heart of this flashy piece is Audemars Piguet’s Calibre 5134 movement. The 5134 is self-winding and offers 40 hours of power reserve. A total of 374 parts are used to build this very complicated perpetual calendar. Most perpetual calendars are designed to keep accurate time and date functions until the year 2100. On March 1st of 2100, a perpetual calendar will have to be adjusted by a watchmaker in order to keep up with a leap year change.

A gold rotor is visible through the case back and winds the watch while 38 jewels keep it running smoothly. AP’s Royal Oak bracelet is crafted from white ceramic and perfectly finished with a combination of brushed and polished links. Ceramic is very hard to get perfect and Audemars Piguet is known to be one of the best at getting it right. The other main, non-ceramic, piece of the watch is the stainless steel folding clasp. The steel is blackened and polished for a clean look and features the AP logo on the outside.

This piece was only sold through Audemars Piguet boutique stores and offered to their best clients. If you were lucky enough to have that relationship with a boutique you could have been offered a White Ceramic Perpetual Calendar for $93,900. But most of us are not on that list and for us, it is very hard to get a watch that will cost a massive amount on the secondary market. Expect to pay around $285,000 for one now, which is down from the high of almost $500,000 a year or so ago.