In September 2023, Audemars Piguet, the leading Swiss watchmaking brand, further demonstrated its exploration in material innovation and led the fashion trend by launching two new 42mm Royal Oak series super time repeater watches made of black ceramic. surface. These two new masterpieces debut with black ceramic cases, embellished with exquisite white gold and titanium metal elements, showing a highly refined aesthetic. Equipped with the latest advanced super timekeeping mechanism developed by Audemars Piguet, the watch is equipped with the Caliber 2953 manual winding movement with patented technology, which breaks through the limitations of sound transmission of ceramic materials and presents excellent acoustic performance. These two watches uniquely combine modern design and cutting-edge technology, taking the technical excellence and unique aesthetic style of the Royal Oak series to a new level.
The 42mm black ceramic case of the two Royal Oak series super time repeater watches is paired with a black “Grande Tapisserie” dial and a correspondingly colored rubber strap, exuding a strong sports style. This marks the first time that Audemars Piguet has used black ceramics to make the case and bottom cover of the Royal Oak Series Super Time Minute Repeater watch, demonstrating its innovative spirit in the field of timepieces. The bottom cover is equipped with multiple holes to highlight the sound volume, allowing the wearer to hear the unique time sound more clearly. The complex craftsmanship and exquisite finishing of the ceramic bottom cover highlight the subtle texture of this material, while highlighting the unique architectural beauty of the Royal Oak series case. Ceramics made from zirconium oxide powder (ZrO2) and a special binder are sintered at high temperatures, polished and satin-finished to give a uniform solid color and a unique finishing effect.
Continuing the monochromatic aesthetic, the “Grand Tapisserie” dials of both watches are presented in black, with snail-shaped decoration embellished with the minute scale ring and the small seconds dial at 6 o’clock. One dial is equipped with white gold luminous hour markers, while the other is set with 13 baguette-cut diamond hour markers, creating a dazzling contrast effect. The white gold Royal Oak hands are covered with a fluorescent coating to ensure easy reading in the dark. Each watch is paired with a black rubber strap with links made of titanium and a new AP three-fold folding clasp.
The Caliber 2953 movement equipped on the two new works is a new generation of manual winding movement with hours, minutes, seconds and date display functions. The movement is only 4 mm thick, has a frequency of 4 Hz and a power reserve of up to 60 hours. Through the sapphire crystal bottom cover, the meticulous structure and exquisite details of the movement can be seen at a glance, such as the 22K rose gold oscillating weight, polished corners, vertical satin brushing, Côtes de Genève, pearl dot patterns and finely polished chamfers. This movement features Super Strike technology, designed to provide tone and clear chime comparable to that of a pocket watch. Since its debut in 2015, this patented technology has been used in multiple timepiece series, pushing the brand’s acoustic performance to new heights.