Haute Man: Hands-On with the Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph Titanium

Last week, Haute Time previewed the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph, which will be unveiled at Watches & Wonders. That got us thinking about the Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph, which is said to have inspired the new watch, so we got our hands on the Titanium version, released earlier this year:

Audemars Piguet launched several jaw-dropping designs this year, and one of our favorites was the Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph in Titanium. According to the brand this limited edition watch “is a collector’s piece, but not for the sort of collector who keeps his watches behind glass.”

The collectors we’ve met definitely wear this timepiece with pride. The Titanium version, known as the Royal Oak Offshore 26387, is a strong statement of individuality with its bold openworked architecture and dramatic combination of black, gold and silver materials.

Overall, this watch has an entirely different feel from the ultra exclusive Platinum version – or Royal Oak Offshore 26388 – that we also saw this summer, when we toured the Audemars Piguet Manufacture (see below).

While the platinum case and openworked metallic blue dial certainly work well together – they are often associated for that reason – the titanium case and black ceramic bezel give model 26387 a cleaner finish. In particular, it better compliments the Arabic numerals and blackened gold Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating.

The Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph Titanium houses the stunning and highly technical Calibre 2912 movement. This hand-wound movement, with double barrel, has an exceptional power reserve of about 237 hours and combines a tourbillon and an extremely refined chronograph mechanism.  The symmetry of the Calibre had us checking the sapphire caseback of this timepiece just as much its dial.

The Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph Titanium is a limited edition 30 pieces.

Photo Credit: Haute Time, shot at Westime. For more, please visit Audemars Piguet.