Want a steel Royal Oak, one of the most iconic watches ever made? Have tons of money to spend on one? Too bad! Life is difficult and steel sports watches are in short supply. Not because stainless steel is in short supply, mind you, but because the watch industry loves nothing more than exclusivity.
However, here’s something cool that Audemars Piguet decided not to announce — an all-ceramic, openworked Royal Oak perpetual calendar. It’s CHF 130,000 (roughly $131,434), so there’s that, but just look at it! It’s badass! It’s got a 41mm black ceramic case, a glareproof sapphire crystal, a titanium case back and screw-down crown. Incredibly, the case thickness is only 9.9mm.
Of course, the dial and movement are the real stars here. Openworked, revealing the automatic manufacture calibre 5135’s pink gold components, the dial makes use of partially smoked sub-dials, pink gold applied hour markers and hands and a black inner bezel. The in-house cal. 5135 features 374 components, 38 jewels, 40 hours of power reserve, and perpetual calendar with week indication, day, date, moonphase, month, leap year, hours and minute functions. A matching black ceramic bracelet with titanium AP folding clasp rounds out the look.
Astronomically priced watches aside, if you’re looking for something in steel and can’t find it, it may be worth considering other materials, such as DCL and PVD-coated watches, titanium and others.
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