Quick Take
As if out of thin air, Swiss fake Audemars Piguet dropped a new release on its website today. The Royal Oak is one of the most iconic watch designs of the last 40 some years, and the Royal Oak Chronograph has since carved out a special place of its own in horological lore. This new 18k white gold Royal Oak Chronograph is a limited edition, and it features a light-blue “Grande Tapisserie” dial.
Initial Thoughts
The light, almost powder shade of the blue dial plays nicely against the white gold case and integrated bracelet. There is a contrasting dark blue ring around the outer portion of the dial, as well as around the sub-dials, boosting the overall legibility of the watch. The “Grande Tapisserie” pattern is classic AP, and it continues to look great on this limited edition model. Both the hands and markers are filled with luminous material, and the dial features an anti-reflective coating.
This release is effectively an existing – and well-known – perfect replica watch in the AP catalog, sporting a new dial variation, in a small limited run. That’s it. But that simple fact notwithstanding, I happen to like the way this one looks and would love to see it in the metal. The color scheme of the watch – with the dual shades of blue – invokes a somewhat frosted aesthetic that fits in perfectly with the incoming cool fall and winter weather. I don’t know if that was the intent behind the design, but let’s go with it.
Inside this watch beats the AP selfwinding caliber 2385 featuring an 18k gold oscillating weight, and 40 hours of power reserve. This is an integrated, column-wheel, chronograph mechanism. The best copy watch features the now-iconic integrated Royal Oak bracelet, also in white gold.
A watch like this could be gone just as quickly as it magically appeared. As mentioned at the top, it will be limited to 100 pieces and is available now.
