The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin Openworked bares all

Open Concept

If you have to explain why luxury mechanical watches are such a big deal, you’ll want to be wearing something like this Audemars Piguet number. Firstly, it’s a Royal Oak, one of the most artistically amazing icons in contemporary watchmaking. Secondly, it comes with a tourbillon, which many would agree is the symbol of high watchmaking. Plus, it is made in the classical style that includes an elegant upper bridge and a three-armed carriage housing a variable inertia balance oscillating at 21,600 vibrations per hour.

Thirdly, it has been decorated and finished to the highest standards. Look specifically at the skeletonised labyrinthine bridges. At the points where they intersect, you’ll find sharp angles that had been bevelled and chamfered by hand. Finally, the watch’s slender profile highlights a lesser-known watchmaking tradition: ultra-thin movements.

And because it’s not just ultra-thin but also finely skeletonised, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin Openworked deserves double the applause.

Audemars Piguet