Feature: Our Pick For The Three Best Royal Oaks Of 2021

Every luxury watch brand has its icon, and I’m betting you know Audemars Piguet’s—yep, no prizes for guessing, it’s the Royal Oak. Like Omega with its icon—the Speedmaster—the Royal Oak, as of late, has seen countless variations and complications added to its line-up. This year alone, there have been just under ten new models announced. So, that being the case, here is our pick for the three best AP Royal Oaks of 2021 … so far, that is.

Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin Platinum Smoked Green

What does just over £70,000 get you in terms of a Royal Oak? Well … this: a 950 platinum Jumbo Extra-Thin with one heck of a dial.

Where the Royal Oak we’ve come to know and love has a tapisserie-designed dial, this has—as the model’s name would suggest—a smoked green one. Pictures really don’t do it justice. The rich green inner transitions to a deep black effortlessly—and it really plays with the light.

But don’t worry, just because you’ve got a colourful new dial and a substantial 950 platinum build doesn’t mean Audemars Piguet has compromised with the movement. This 39mm Royal Oak is equipped with the 3.05mm-thick Calibre 2121. The automatic calibre beats away at 19,800 vph, has a 40-hour power reserve and a 21k gold skeletonised rotor-weight for good measure.

Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar

Who doesn’t love a perpetual calendar? This incredibly complex complication remembers how many days are in each month, knows when there is a leap year, and is accurate until the year 2100—which is perfect if you’re the type of person that hates adjusting their watch.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a perpetual calendar in a Royal Oak—or even in this exact style. The difference with this, over previous models, is the colour of the dial—which, if you haven’t noticed, is blue. Okay, okay, what’s so special about a blue dial? Every brand makes ‘em these days. Well, the blue—in this case—wasn’t chosen to be on-trend but to act as a tribute to the original Royal Oak, a watch that’s almost 50 years old.

For those wondering, this watch features the Calibre 5134—a movement with a 19,800 vph beat rate and 40-hour power reserve—and is available in steel or 18K pink gold.

Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Open Worked Frosted Pink Gold

Our last Royal Oak is a little more bling. There are three reasons why this watch made our list, and they are: the plethora of precious stones used for the bezel, the finishing, and the “Open Worked” design.

By finishing, I am, of course, talking about the “frosted” effect on the either yellow, white, or pink gold case. By the term frosted, I mean that this watch shines as if it were decorated with thousands of tiny diamonds—an effect achieved by indenting a surface many, many times with a diamond-tipped tool. You’d think that it creates a coarse texture that wouldn’t be very nice at all; on the contrary, this effect actually leaves the watch’s surface feeling like velvet, weird, I know.

The “Open Work” design is something we’ve seen before on the Royal Oak. It’s essentially Audemars Piguet’s way of letting you see the impressive Calibre 3132 from both the front and back. The self-winding calibre features a double balance wheel, runs at 21,600 vph and has a power reserve of 45 hours.

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