Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph 42

January 21, 2014

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You know we love the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak collection so you are probably not surprised by the fact that we will give it some fresh SIHH 2014 attention now. While the Royal Oak Offshore models like the ‘Safari’ or ‘Navy’ were always in 42mm (case diameter), somehow Audemars Piguet decided to emphasize on this by mentioning it in the collection name. It seems to be a common mistake that people think these watches are 44mm, but they weren’t & aren’t. The new collection also has a new reference number, starting with 26470 (instead of the previous and much memorized 26170).

As you can see above, the Safari model is still there. Where the current or former model had a light cream-ish dial, Audemars Piguet made it more ivory-like. The grey dial version is also amazing, especially with its elephant-colored leather strap and dito dial. Perhaps we could nick it ‘Elephant’ from now on.

What really changed – besides the colors – is the fact that all these Offshore models now have a transparent caseback, demonstrating the awesome caliber 3126 chronograph module movement. This movement was also used in the previous reference 26170 collections. Other chances: The color of the date disc now corresponds with the dial color (way to go!) and the pushers and crown of the chronograph are no longer made of rubber. Instead, Audemars Piguet decided to use ceramic material for them.

As you can see below, the movement rotor has a gold mass (22 carat gold) and a Gyromax balance system. The chronograph module is added on top of the base movement and is referred to as the 3840 (making it the caliber 3126/3840 movement).

Besides the stainless steel models, Audemars Piguet also introduces a 18 carat pink gold and leather combination as well as a full 18 carat pink gold Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph.