Bright, white, sleek and powerful, the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon
to be presented for the first time at the Salon International de la
Haute Horlogerie 2014 (SIHH) in Geneva, is a watch for avant-garde
collectors and connoisseurs that brooks no compromise in either
technical or aesthetic terms
Its sculpted titanium case middle and integrated rubber strap combine
with a white ceramic bezel to frame the highly architectural array of
tourbillon carriage and second ‘GMT’ time-zone display inside – case and
movement in perfect harmony.
New for
2014, however, is the flash of
pure white centre-stage: an intricately machined upper bridge made of
white ceramic – only possible now, thanks to
Audemars Piguet’s ongoing
advances in materials science.
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The Concept evolution
The
Royal Oak Concept was first unveiled in 2002 as an avant-garde,
30th-anniversary tribute to
Audemars Piguet’s legendary octagonal
Royal
Oak – designed by Gérald Genta as the world’s first luxury watch in
stainless steel.
The Concept’s ultra-hard Alacrite 602 case was more rounded to
highlight Genta’s signature octagonal bezel and its eight hexagonal
screws. The dial was left off, exposing the advanced micro-mechanics
ticking within. All these revolutionary design codes have persisted
throughout the Concept series, from 2008’s
Royal Oak Carbon Concept
Tourbillon and Chronograph – an ultra-light timepiece that was the first
to combine a forged-carbon case and movement mainplate – to the
Royal
Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon of 2011, with ultra-light, ultra-resistant
titanium case and black-ceramic octagonal bezel, pushpieces and crown.
This year’s
Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon features a white ceramic
bezel, crown and pushpieces instead of black, all heightening the
contrast with the titanium case middle. However, in typical,
trailblazing style, the Manufacture has now gone one step further and
incorporated ceramic into the movement itself, replacing the blackened
upper bridge of
Calibre 2913 with white ceramic. As a result, the new
Calibre 2930 is visually transformed, its dazzling, hourglass-shaped
bridge further enlivened by the double symmetry of the tourbillon
bridges and GMT display.
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Materials know-how
White ceramic is about nine times harder than steel, meaning the
manufacture of the
Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon’s bezel, pushpieces,
crown and especially its intricately shaped upper bridge was a complex
and lengthy process.
Ceramic is an almost totally scratchproof composite material that can
be scratched only by diamonds, calling for the use of special
milling-cutter machines equipped with diamond-tipped tools. Treating the
roughed-out surfaces and edges to a polished or satin-brushed finish
represents a daunting technical challenge, due to ceramic’s inherent
resistance to abrasion. It takes around 8 hours to make the
Royal Oak
Concept GMT Tourbillon’s bezel, compared with 45 minutes if it were
steel, calling upon all the savoir-faire of the watchmakers and
engineers. As well as giving an exceptionally smooth final appearance,
ceramic has a practical purpose, displaying extreme resistance to wear.
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Similarly, the titanium used for the case middle and sapphire surround
is ultra strong, comfortable to wear twice and as light as steel –
advantageous for a watch of such generous 44mm proportions. Further
demonstrating
Audemars Piguet’s deeply entrenched knowledge of high-tech
metals and materials, the inner flange circling the dial is made of
lightweight aluminium, hardened by anodisation.
This daring cocktail of ceramics and metals is just the latest chapter
in
Audemars Piguet’s ongoing quest to push the envelope when it comes to
materials science – a quest that started over 40 years ago with the
Manufacture’s most daring move of all, using steel in a luxury watch for
the very first time.
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Technical tour de force
The defining characteristic of
Audemars Piguet’s Concept watches has
always been the coherence of case and movement. The ultra-modern
‘engine’ is seamlessly integrated within its ultra-modern ‘chassis’,
whose techy aesthetic perfectly complements and showcases the exposed
micro-mechanics.
An impressive feat in its own right, the
Royal Oak Concept GMT
Tourbillon’s hand-wound
Calibre 2930 features a twin barrel ensuring
10-day power reserve, tourbillon and second time-zone ‘GMT’ display.
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Its timekeeping is regulated by a 3Hz (21,600vph) escapement, rotating
inside a tourbillon carriage every 60 seconds, compensating for the
effects of the Earth's gravity when the watch is oriented vertically for
any length of time.
The tourbillon cage comprises 85 components, yet only 0.45g in weight.
An experienced watchmaker spends almost three days assembling its 85
components, including two full days to install the cage, while the full
workings will require over two weeks of work.
Audemars Piguet is still
one of the few manufactures to have mastered all the intricacies of this
complication, with over 25 different movements featuring a tourbillon.
Each component is bevelled, polished, assembled and balanced by hand.
The GMT display provides an instant reading of the time in a second
time-zone. It is adjusted using the pushpiece at 4 o’clock (one press
adjusts the time by one hour). The indication of the second time-zone,
based on 12 hours, comprises two superimposed discs, making it easy to
tell the time. The first, on which the figures are inscribed, completes
one turn in 12 hours. The second, just below, completes a turn in 24
hours and has 2 coloured areas: a white half for daytime and a black
half for night-time. This makes it easier to read the figures.
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Audemars Piguet’s proprietary parallel double barrel system ensures the
Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon runs for as many as 10 days before it
needs to be manually wound again, generating a constant force during
some 237 hours of autonomy, enhancing timekeeping precision.
The energy from
Calibre 2930’s two 10-day barrels is fed into the
geartrain at the same time via a single pinion bridging the two. This is
a far gentler means of transmitting energy than the usual system of two
series-linked 5-day barrels. It also reduces pressure in the gearing,
the friction in the barrels is used to offset torque variations, and it
gives increased running precision, greater power reserve and enhanced
reliability.
The
Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon also features a selection
indicator mechanism. According to the position of the winding stem, the
hand positioned on the dial at 6 o’clock indicates the function
selected. The H, N and R indications correspond to the three positions
of the winding stem, meaning time-setting, neutral and winding
respectively
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Technical Specifications
Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon
Reference: RO 26580IO OO D010CA SDT
Movement
Calibre 2930, hand-wound manufacture
Total diameter: 35.60mm (15 ¾ lines)
Thickness: 9.90mm
Number of jewels: 29
Number of parts: 291
Power reserve: 237h
Frequency of balance wheel: 3Hz (21,600vph)
White ceramic upper bridge
Finishing: hand-finished bridges and mainplate, hand finished cut-out
parts, polished angles, hand-drawn file strokes on upper surface and
matt finish beneath.
Case
Titanium case
Glareproofed sapphire crystal and caseback
White ceramic bezel
Screw-locked crown and white ceramic pushpiece
Water-resistant to 100m
Display
Openworked
Second time-zone indicator at 3 o’clock
Crown position indicator at 6 o’clock
Tourbillon at 9 o’clock with black anodized aluminium bridge
White gold Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating
Black anodized aluminium inner bezel
Bracelet
White rubber strap with titanium AP folding clasp
Function
24-hour GMT display
Day and night indicator
Functions selection
Hours and minutes
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