[PulsedMedia]

Well, this one came as a bit of a surprise. With not so much as a whisper, this watch just appeared on the Audemars Piguet website and we happened to stumble upon it. And what a surprise it is! When AP first unveiled the Royal Oak perpetual calendar in all black ceramic at SIHH 2017, it created quite the stir and there is still quite a long line to get one if you're looking (how many years long the list is depends on who you ask). Nobody had ever made a ceramic watch quite like this, with the integrated ceramic bracelet and this degree of finishing on the case and bracelet, and two-and-a-half years later it's still at the forefront of cutting-edge watchmaking. more

[mtve]

And one important thing to note is that the movement is the caliber 5135, an openworked version of the caliber 5134 that can be found in this watch's predecessors. When I first looked at the watch, I thought the only difference was the removal of some top-side elements to make it easier to see the cadrature QP works, but that's far from the truth. In addition to that, you're also getting some extra hand-finishing on those visible elements as well as the openworking of some components on the rear of the movement, including the barrel, the balance cock, and some bridges. The new movement execution looks killer from every angle and is just as much the story here as the transparent dial. [links]

[giik]

At SIHH 2019, AP released a version of the Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin with a similar black ceramic treatment, and this past summer we got a QP in white ceramic to add some variation to the mix. But this new beauty starts with the same basic idea as that 2017 black ceramic QP, only with a transparent dial and rose gold accents, letting you admire the complex perpetual calendar works sitting just below the surface. It's still 41mm across and just 9.9mm thick, it's still got that stunning brushed finish, and it's still got the incredible in-house movement at its core. If I had a guess, I'd say that by the time you're reading this, the watch is likely already pure unobtanium. here

[kavindave26]

I'm normally someone firmly in the "a new dial color does not constitute a new watch" camp, but this is the sort of watch that makes me rethink that position entirely. The original version of this watch was very monolithic, with only the moonphase and a red "31" to break up the monochromatic look. It was a bit cold, but in a good way. The watch felt like it emerged right from its designer's brain into the world, with all the angles just so, all the finishing just right. This new version, on the other hand, looks like it has a tremendous amount of depth and warmth to it. The rose gold hands and accents, as well as the bits of movement that you can see below the transparent dial and translucent sub-dials, give you a lot to look at and break up the all-black color scheme in a really pleasing way. here

[Bruce Wagner]

Putting a skeleton movement inside the bestselling Royal Oak in black ceramic is obvious, and could have been done in the easiest way possible. But AP went one better; it developed a new calibre, the 5135, that is not merely open-worked, but also redesigned for maximum aesthetic effect.

[carp]

The sharpness of the edges on the case and bezel are just remarkable

[gregharaksin3]

The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked in black ceramic (ref. 26585CE.OO.1225CE.01) is priced at 130,000 Swiss francs without taxes. It’ll be available only at Audemars Piguet boutiques. For more, visit Audemarspiguet.com.

[atonmack87]

Finally, don't underestimate the competition from within Audemars Piguet's own ranks, where a solid rose-gold Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar (ref. 26574OR.OO.1220OR.02) will set you back $95,700 for a watch with a vastly similar movement (and so much gold). Don't want to save $35,000? Don't forget that AP also offers the Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin (aka the production RD#2) for CHF 140,000. It, too, is 41mm wide, but if you're willing to forgo the ceramic construction and the Openworked dial, the new Ultra-Thin is just 6.3mm thick, while also being decidedly more low-key than the ceramic RO shown here (despite the fact that it sports a case and bracelet made from platinum). So you've got to ask yourself, how much is that lovely Openworked dial worth? While not a question I'll ever have to answer in earnest, I suppose it's comforting to know that AP isn't the only game in town for a skeletonized QP.

[cindyr]

Given the overall complexity of the dial and the various displays, which show (clockwise from 12 o'clock) month and leap year, date, moon phase, and day, branding is thankfully kept to a minimum. I also appreciate the contrast between the modern feel of the case and the traditional execution of a semi-translucent moon phase depicting a beautiful starry night's sky of deep blues and purples. At first glance, the ceramic Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked is a shiny black Royal Oak, but for the next several thousand glances it continues to surprise and delight. here

[jimmy]

As specificity is the soul of narrative, this Openworked version is reference 26585CE.OO.1225CE.01 and is very similar to the $93,900 ref. 26579CE.OO.1225CE.01 Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar (also in ceramic), which has a slightly different execution of the same movement (the 5135 and 5134, respectively) and a traditional slate grey Tapisserie dial (as is common to Royal Oak design language). For this Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked, the party piece is certainly the transparent sapphire dial and the view it allows of the in-house automatic QP engine underneath. more

[rjebro]

Beautifully finished and thin enough to allow a total case thickness of just 9.9mm, the calibre 5135 ticks at 2.75 Hz, offers 40 hours of power reserve, and plenty of cams and levers to ensure that "Openworked" dial earns its name. As the scale area of each subdial is smoked, the actual legibility of the perpetual calendar was much better than I expected in person, and the rose-gold accents offer a warm contrast that works really well with the demure tones of the ceramic case and bracelet. here

[peterwhite88]

Brushed and polished to a level befitting any of its siblings, this Royal Oak ceramic case and bracelet vacillate between mirror black and a sort of dark grey with very pronounced finishing. In a dark space, like that of a back room in Audemars Piguet's Manhattan boutique, any such ceramic Royal Oak looks very smooth and very very black, with an endless array of faceted surfaces that catch any available light like a stealth plane that someone has polished, for whatever reason, to a mirror finish. more

[aisnake]

But, should you add a pop of bright light from a flash, you'll see that the surface, while certainly smooth, is brighter than I expected (having never seen a black ceramic Royal Oak in open daylight conditions). Look closely at the photos, in highlight the ceramic Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked is grey-black and beautifully finished (which is no small task for ceramic). In shadow, it's much darker, with texture across the brushing and an inky black across the polished facets and bevels of the case and bracelet. It's not like any other watch I've ever come across or photographed and the effect is charming, revealing additional detail in brighter environments. And that's before we even get to the dial. more

[hopelore]

I have tried to figure out the very first time that Audemars Piguet utilized ceramic and can't seem to nail down a true first foray. It started at least a decade or so ago, with special iterations of the Royal Oak Offshore with ceramic components and then the Royal Oak Offshore Diver models with black and white ceramic cases. These Divers were the genesis of the current ceramic Royal Oaks, particularly in the finishing of the ceramic. Typically, you'd find black ceramic either fully polished or given a matte, sandblasted finish. In contrast, AP applied a vertical brushed finish for the Diver's case, giving it a bit of a metallic look that set it apart from other ceramic watches. That was just the start.

[CheesyWizz9]

"Eight years ago, we were making ceramic bezels and cases, but when I took over the CEO position, I imagined a ceramic bracelet because I thought it would be ideal," says François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet. "The answer I got was that it was going to be impossible. It's too complicated; it would take forever. I said, listen, I'm only 48 years old, so we have all the time to get it done. It's going to be unbelievable."

[phy]

Because "limited production" is a nice way of saying, "We're only making a few, and we're not saying how many," it's tough to know how rare these watches actually are. Demand is so high, even at those prices, that AP could likely make a relatively large quantity and still maintain waitlists. I asked Bennahmias if he could share any production figures, and after demuring and saying that he couldn't really share too much, he did offer one very helpful detail: With the launch of the Openworked Perpetual Calendar, production will cease on the original Perpetual Calendar, and AP will have made just over 600 examples of the original black ceramic Perpetual Calendar when everything is said and done. here

[tmr0]

A few weeks ago, Audemars Piguet dropped the Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked in black ceramic, utilizing their new-normal strategy of slipping the watch onto a product page on their website, without a press release or media blitz. They knew they didn't need either. The collector community and general Watch Internet hyped it up for them, and you couldn't browse Instagram without seeing pictures of the watch and comments about the watch every few posts and Stories. This thing is one of the hottest watches of the year, not to mention one of the hardest to get.