In a brilliant bit of strategic undercutting, Audemars Piguet has beaten all of the brands exhibiting at Watches & Wonders next month to the punch, with over a dozen new releases across the CODE 11.59, Royal Oak, and Royal Oak Offshore collections (to name but a few).
Despite what is an objectively incredible roster of products for Audemars Piguet’s first salvo in 2024, most early press reactions have settled on the new ‘Crystal Sky’ Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar: a 200-piece limited edition, designed in conjunction with award-winning musician (and legendary shred lord) John Mayer.
At this point in our cultural zeitgeist, Mayer’s affinity — and serious knowledge — of mechanical watchmaking is well-known. That’s not something that I (or any other journalist concertedly covering the watch industry for that matter) ever need to revisit again.
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What is more interesting, however, is how this incandescent blue Royal Oak QP now serves as the swansong to AP’s calibre 5134: the self-winding perpetual calendar movement that has powered literally dozens of the most desirable watches the brand has unveiled in the past half-decade. (The Ref. 26579 Royal Oak QPs in white and black ceramic are one such well-known example.)
On the technical front, this final farewell to the 5134 movement is aligned with previous releases: in a just-substantial-enough 41mm case, machined out of 18-carat white gold; with the sharp, beautiful, and globally iconic Royal Oak bracelet made from the same metal.
If you’re aesthetically inclined, chances are that this will all be fodder on one’s way to the dial: a uniquely textural and crystalline affair that interprets the ‘Crystal Sky’ motif as an infinite procession of blues — achieved here using a repetitive embossing technique.
Even at a glance (without having seen the watch in the metal) the dial’s effect reminds me of a fusion between AP’s ‘Tuscan’ perpetual calendars of yore and the CODE 11.59 chronograph in aventurine.
Knowing Mayer’s horological chops, it’d be surprising if those influences weren’t deliberate inclusions.
