Audemars Piguet - Extra Millimeters
WORLDTEMPUS - 17 January 2012
"No frills." Audemars Piguet's head designer Octavio Garcia keeps saying as he described the fortieth anniversary Royal Oak that has grown two spots to become 41 millimeters in diameter. There is no doubt he was confronted with a tough task: modernizing an icon that spewed from the hands of octagonal-happy designer Gerald Genta in 1972.
He did well, however. Visually, the 41-millimeter Reference 15400 is not a "large" watch per se. You can tell, of course, that it is not the usual 39-millimeter size, particularly when you strap it to your wrist.
The chronograph carrying the reference number 26320 seems to work within this parameter slightly better than the time-only Royal Oak. The 41-millimeter case size is quite handsome in that it combines dressy, rugged and elegant all at the same time in a handsome kind of way. Perhaps the dial layout works better on the chronograph due to the slightly shorter hands as compared with the time-only version. Maybe it is simply a matter of taste - which it very often is.
The luxurious straps for the precious metal rose gold versions are slightly slimmer and much softer than the crocodile straps found on the 39-millimeter Reference 15300 Royal Oaks and feel really comfortable on the wrist.
No more 39 mm
The bad news is that the 39-millimeter line of Reference 15300 will soon be a thing of the past. This is perhaps why I marvel a bit too much at a slightly updated version of Reference 15202 with one of the thinnest automatic movements on the market today. Updated with a date disc the same color as the dial - which goes for all the new Royal Oaks beginning in 2012 - as well as the double strength 12 o'clock marker, the 15202 looks like its former self - and it is a looker. It is also the most complex of the Royal Oaks due to the mono block case design, which means that Reference 15202's case front and back are machined together as opposed to References 15300 and 15400, which are of three-piece case design.
Pro-looking diver
Refreshingly, there was not a lot of news from the Offshore line this year. As in less is more, Garcia showed only one new Offshore: a fantastic-looking Diver with a caseband in forged carbon and bezel in ceramic. Last year, we saw the first unlimited Offshore Diver, but that almost looks civil compared to the new version, Reference 15706, with yellow details and blackened hands. This new diver's watch has a professional look and feel to it and will probably outdo the "civil" version of 2011 in terms of popularity.
No frills
All in all, Garcia did well. Again. He did not mess too much with the original Genta design from 1972. He did not go "exotic" in terms of material for the 41 millimeter Royal Oaks. He simply created a no-frills collection, like he kept underscoring during the interview.
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