Audemars Piguet continues its tradition of innovation with its latest skeletonized creation. The timepiece, which features a tourbillon and chronograph complication, was conceived out of a creative dialogue between Audemars Piguet and SoHo luxury retailer, Material Good in New York City. The watch available in both 18K rose gold and in titanium, is exclusively available at Audemars Piguet boutiques and at Material Good in New York City. Although this new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked ref. 26347 was just released, as usual, we already have our live images for your viewing pleasure.
The Dial
As far as the dial, this new watch features an fully skeletonized/openworked ruthenium-toned dial with ruthenium-toned registers, pink gold applied markers, pink gold Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating and a ruthenium-toned flange with minute track in black for both models.
he Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked ref. 26347 features a tourbillon cage at 6 o'clock, a 30-minute chrono register at 3 and a running seconds register at 9 o'clock.
The Case
The new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked x Material Good ref. 26347 is fitted with a very robust 44 mm case in 18K pink gold or in titanium. The case features the traditional satin-brushed finish that AP is very well known for. The new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked ref. 26347OR.OO.1205OR.01 and ref. 26347TI.OO.1205TI.01 is built like a tank with a case thickness of 13.2 —almost as thick as a Royal Oak Offshore and with a total weight that gets close to a pound for the 18K rose gold model —to be precise 343.2 grams. The new watches are water resistant to a depth of 20 meters and simply stunning.
The Movement
Powering this new AP Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked ref. 26347 is the AP manual wound calibre 2936 composed of 299 parts and 28 jewels. The calibre is relatively small —with a diameter of 29.90 mm— when compared to the diameter of the watch case. The movement beats at a frequency of 21,600 vph and provides a power reserve of 72 hours when fully wound. Fully visible via the display case back and the dial side, the movement is exquisitely finished and a true work of art. At the bottom, one can admire that column-wheel mechanism and the solid gold bridges throughout. Additionally, this calibre features a semi-instantaneous jump of the chronograph minute hand within an interval of approximately half a second in order to facilitate time measurement reading.
On the Wrist & Pricing
On the wrist, the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Openworked x Material Good ref. 26347OR.OO.1205OR.01 and ref. 26347TI.OO.1205TI.01 wears slightly bigger than its 44 mm size and more like a 45 mm timepiece on a 7.25" wrist. The wrist presence is immaculate but with regards to the 18K rose gold model, one needs to be OK with wearing a watch that is so heavy on the wrist. Definitely not a perfect daily wearer but a very special watch reserved for those that want the best. While no limitation information was provided with the release of the watch, we can only imagine that not many were made of this particular reference.
Sticker Price $297,000 USD for 18K rose gold and $271,000 USD for titanium. For more info on Audemars Piguet click here.
