Cover Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 43 mm in tribute to Schwarzenegger’s “End of Days” model from 1999 (Photo: Audemars Piguet)
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 43 mm in tribute to Schwarzenegger’s “End of Days” model from 1999 (Photo: Audemars Piguet)
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The Royal Oak Offshore has charted an incredible course over the past 30 years
Some watches are pioneers, the first to take a major leap forward and establish a benchmark. The Royal Oak Offshore is one such example.
In terms of size and style, not to mention masculine allure, the Royal Oak Offshore redefined contemporary standards. At the time of its birth in 1993, watches were considered huge at 40mm in diameter and almost 12mm thick. This was the thoroughly modest landscape within which the Royal Oak Offshore made its first appearance.
More is More
At the request of its German market, Audemars Piguet made a radical decision. It took an emblematic model—the Royal Oak, an icon in itself—and reshaped it by accentuating all of its features. The Royal Oak Offshore thus resembles the Royal Oak, notably the integrated case-bracelet structure and the eight-sided bezel featuring screws with slots set at a tangent.
Yet everything about it is exaggerated: bigger, thicker, more pronounced and more bevelled. So much so that this watch quickly earned a nickname, “The Beast”, which we now know alludes to its beloved and highly coveted status.
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Above Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 42mm (Photo: Audemars Piguet)
Above The Royal Oak Offshore ref. 25721 from 1993, known as “The Beast” (Photo: Audemars Piguet)
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 42mm (Photo: Audemars Piguet)
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Details
This chronograph was based on the ‘6’, ‘9’, ‘12’ configuration, considered sportier than the ‘3’, ‘6’, ‘9’ style of the Royal Oak chronographs. The tachymeter scale on the flange said it all, being graduated up to 500 km/h.
The diameter was expanded to 42mm, the thickness to 14mm, and the weight to 220g—all records at the time. The bezel was also thicker. The applied hour-markers were round, ringed and contrasting. Not to mention—once again, well ahead of its time—the watch debuted with a dial in a very rare colour: blue.
The bracelet was based on the original mesh of the Royal Oak, but with a more pronounced curve, like a flexed arm to show off its muscles. Needless to say, the Royal Oak Offshore was unique and its success proved more than proportional to its cost. It also embodied a willingness to innovate, a realm that Audemars Piguet almost exclusively reserved for this collection. Think forged carbon, ceramic, rubber-moulded crown, technical fabric strap, and grand complications in a super-sporty case.
In short, it adopted all the current codes of hyper-sportiness well before anyone else did.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and his 48mm Royal Oak Offshore T3, worn in Terminator 3 (Photo: Audemars Piguet)
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Evolution
Sizes have varied over the past 30 years, from 30mm for the ladies to 48mm to fit the Terminator frame of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was one of the world’s most bankable actors and perhaps the biggest fan of the Royal Oak Offshore.
It has assumed increasingly bold colour codes and made waves with its limited editions over the years. The Offshore is thus not just a design or brand story. It is one of the first watches to be adopted by the most prominent personalities and athletes. They could have their limited series and their say on the design, years before anyone else even dared to think about it.
The anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore is giving rise to several launches, including a 42mm that is very close in design and dimensions to the original except that it is adorned in black ceramic.
Then there is the tribute to the 1999 model created in collaboration with Schwarzenegger for his horror-action movie End of Days. The 43mm watch is crafted in black ceramic with yellow accents, including the stitching on the black calfskin strap with textile effect.
This story was originally published on worldtempus.com
