From jewelled timepieces worn as pendants or brooches (let’s not forget the miniature minute repeaters from the 1890s) to the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon in 2018, Audemars Piguet has given women due attention. So this tidy collection of six new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon models shouldn’t come as a surprise. The flying tourbillon addresses the effect of gravity and ensures accuracy, but this time the brand brings in haute joaillerie as well.
Brilliant- or baguette-cut gemstones are to be expected — four models make the most of graded blue sapphires, while two of them check the rainbow box that most luxury (and fashion) watch manufactures seem to favour these days. The latter, with around 3.5 carats of gems, include rubies, tsavorites, emeralds, topaz, tanzanites and amethysts. The invisible gem setting for each of the two timepieces with 208 baguette-cut graded blue sapphires amounted to 150 hours!
Three more from the new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon collection
The open-worked barrel of hand-wound Calibre 2951, visible at 11 o’clock, directs attention to the watch’s power source. The flying tourbillon makes its rotation at 6 o’clock and is also set with brilliant-cut gemstones. At a gender-fluid 38.5 mm, it hugs the wrist, and the 18 carat white gold case (there is a pink gold option too) can take this complicated timepiece through any event, day or night. Water-resistant to 20 m with case thickness of 11.6 mm. More details will follow an in-person check of the timepieces.
Pricing from approximately CHF 211,700 to CHF 440,100 and this collection can be requested at Audemars Piguet boutiques.
