A First On-Wrist Look at Audemars Piguet's High-Concept Watch Collab (EXCLUSIVE)
Audemars Piguet didn’t even wait to let the dust settle from its last collaboration to launch another big moment. Punters camped out for days outside Swatch stores to try and buy the Audemars Piguet pocket-Swatch last weekend. Many shops couldn’t handle the crowds and didn’t even open. Others needed police backup.
That’s what happens when you release the most hyped object in modern horology. AP is already back at it, though, dropping another big-time collaboration and Highsnobiety was there with an early in-hand look.
Yoon Ahn and Verbal already know a thing or two about hype. This is the duo behind AMBUSH, whose famous Nike collaborations sell out instantly and still resell at huge prices. But this is the duo's first move into fine timepieces.
They’re entering the world of horology through a somewhat niche wristwatch inspired by futuristic concept cars that never make it to production. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon is the younger, experimental, lesser-known close relative of the Royal Oak, AP’s most famous watch.
It’s also a lot rarer, with only the odd drop offered each year in highly limited numbers.
Ahn and Verbal’s Concept Flying Tourbillon rebuilds the Royal Oak’s trademark octagonal bezel in rugged grey titanium, from which the watch face caves inwards and presents a peek at its inner workings. Here, hits of red contrast against the watch’s industrial colors because “Red has always been a powerful colour for us,” said Verbal. “Red evokes the Earth’s core: the origin point, the source of energy and, ultimately, the beginning of how we measure time itself.”
There’s a matching red rubber strap, for those really wanting to evoke “the Earth’s core,” alongside an interchangeable black one. And unlike the concept cars it was inspired by, this wild watch is actually releasing to the public.
The only hitch is that a only 150 of them will ever exist.
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