Elite Traveler March-April 2017

DISCOVER

elite traveler MAR/APR 2017 26

Watchmaker Gérald Genta’s iconic Royal Oak design has been given a sexy black-ceramic twist

Watches

A HIGH-TECH ROYAL OAK

At this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Audemars Piguet released a watch that had everyone buzzing: a black-ceramic Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. Converting Gérald Genta’s iconic design to ceramic was not an easy task. It took more than 600 hours of research alone to develop the watch, which takes five times longer to make than the stainless-steel version. This is because the properties that make ceramic so desirable – being virtually scratchproof and able to handle both high temperatures and significant temperature variations – also make it more difficult to work with, leading to additional steps in the creation of this hand-finished watch. While the case and bracelet are high tech, a Grande Tapisserie decoration on the gray dial brings classic horology to the modern timepiece. It displays the weeks around the outer chapter ring, with subdials for month and leap year, date, day of the week and moon phase. The photorealistic astronomical moon brings a touch of lightness to the all-black watch. $93,900, available at Audemars Piguet in NewYork, contact Susan Wallace, boutiquemanager, +1 212 688 6644, audemarspiguet.com

Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar has a Grande Tapisserie- decorated dial with multiple subdials

The properties that make ceramic so desirable also make it more difficult to work with