BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
The year 2002 was the year when Audemars Piguet celebrated the 30th birthday of Royal Oak, and to mark that historic occasion, they coincided the event with the launch of the Royal Oak Concept. It was an experimental build of Royal Oak that was inspired by a concept car and made into a 150-piece limited edition run. The Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT was then debuted in 2018, adhering to the same basic design of the non-flying Concept GMT Tourbillon Royal Oak. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Royal Oak Concept, Audemars Piguet has launched the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT in military green.
Just like the inaugural Royal Oak Concept, the case of the new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT is constructed with robust and lightweight titanium. It measures 44mm x 16.1mm and has a sandblasted finish with contrasting brushed flanks, as well as the characteristic octagonal bezel with eight screws, which is now fashioned in green ceramic, hand-finished satin-brushed surfaces, and polished chamfers. Sapphire crystals protect the dial and the caseback, and also allow for an exhibition of the movement. The case is water resistant to 100 meters.
The openwork dial is the trademark of the Royal Oak Concept family of watches and here it’s presented in a color combination of black and green; the ceramic bezel is made into green while the base of the dial is black. The pink gold semi-skeletonized hands with luminous coating are neatly placed on the dial, as is the flying tourbillon at 9 o’clock, with two delta-shaped structures on each side. The brand logo and crown position indicator (HNR) are housed in two open pentagons at 12 and 6 o’clock, with pink gold letters for the AP logo and the HNR. Parts of the escapement and balance wheel can also be seen underneath the open-worked bridges.
Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT is powered by AP caliber 2954 movement. It’s a manually wound skeletonized movement beating at 3 Hz (21,600 vph), with 24 Jewels and 348 parts. The movement features hours, minutes, flying tourbillon, GMT, day/night indication, function selector and has an astonishing power reserve of 237 hours (about 10 days), thanks to its patented parallel double barrel system. It comes on a green rubber strap with sandblasted titanium clasp and an additional black rubber strap is also available. The watch retails for CHF 198,900.
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