BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
One of the charms of a mechanical watch is to be able to see all the gears and levers that drive it in action. But the experience gets elevated to the next level when you can witness everything right through the face without flipping the watch over and that is exactly what the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked Ceramic is all about.
Achieving transparency on the face of a watch can be a tricky affair as a lot of times it comes at the cost of heavy loss in legibility, but folks at Audemars Piguet seem to have struck just the right balance with this watch. The sapphire dial not only gives a great view of the complicated internals but thanks to the thoughtfully smoked outer periphery it manages to remain quite legible as well. The applied markers, the hour/minute hand and the borders of the sub-dial have been rendered in pink gold to complement the golden components of the movement. The balanced layout is like what we have seen on previously released ceramic Royal Oak Perpetual calendar watches. There are 4 circular registers at 12,3,6 and 9 that display most of the calendar-related information except for the week of the year which has been printed on a black sloped chapter ring and can be read using the white arrow tipped hand.
The case on this watch has been crafted from black ceramic which makes it highly resistant to scratches and gives it a stealthy look. It measures 41mm in diameter and is just 9.9mm in thickness which should make it sit comfortably on the wrist and glide effortlessly under those cuffs. The finishing on the case, as well as the bracelet, looks top-notch offering a blend of finely brushed and polished surfaces. The case is water-resistant to just 20 meters which I feel is way too less especially for a sports watch. Powering the watch is Audemars Piguet’s automatic manufacture calibre 5135. The movement operates at a slightly odd frequency of 2.75Hz and offers a power reserve of around 40 hours. Functions on offer include Perpetual calendar with week indication, day, date, astronomical moon, month, leap year, hours and minute. It has been beautifully decorated and can be viewed from both the front as well as the exhibition case back.
In all the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked Ceramic is a handsome looking beast. The watch would retail for CHF 130,000.
Visit Audemars Piguet here.
