Audemars Piguet is a notable brand – and the Royal Oak Grande Complication is a notable watch.AP has traditionally been a part of the so-called ‘Big Three’ – the other two being Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. However, Audemars Piguet has been drawing rather heavily on its Royal Oak heritage in the last few years, causing the name to be almost synonymous with the decisively sporty and rugged Offshore for the almost a decade. Still, AP has a rich pedigree when it comes to complications and can be considered somewhat of a specialist when it comes to the traditional ‘Grande Complication’.But that’s not where it ends. Audemars Piguet has been one of the first to merge its tradition in haute horlogerie with its tradition in sports watches, perhaps creating a new segment in the blink of an eye – that of extreme high-end, haute horlogerie sports watches. The present Royal Oak is an example of this: the sporty and emblematic Royal Oak design is paired with an ultra-complex movement, and it’s housed in handsomely crafted white gold case with a skeleton dial revealing much of the movements inner workings. How is that for merging tradition with an avant-garde mindset?Selfwinding watch with perpetual calendar indicating the day, the date, the week, the moon phases, the month and the leap years, minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph and small seconds at 9 o’clock.
