News 
For more than 20 years, the Maison in Le Brassus has forged strong links with the world of street culture. The latest addition to the Royal Oak line is the result of a collaboration with the Cactus Jack label, founded by American hip hop artist Travis Scott. Available in a limited edition of 200, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” features a brown ceramic case – a first at Audemars Piguet.
Very light yet highly resistant to scratches, the ceramic composing the 41mm case and bracelet studs is made from zirconium oxide powder stabilised with yttrium and combined with a binder. Once sintered at over 1,000°C, these metal oxides gives the ceramic its distinctive brown colour.
On the front, this timepiece – which Travis Scott calls the “The Chocolate AP” – features white gold hexagonal screws, while the sapphire dial reveals the skeletonised calibre 5135 movement. This takes into account the number of days in each month and automatically adjusts the date accordingly, including during leap years, until 2100.
The dial features three day, month and date counters respectively displayed at 9, 12 and 3 o’clock, while the moon-phase indicator appears at 6 o’clock. In this instance, the usual representation of the Earth’s satellite has been replaced by Cactus Jack’s emblematic smiley face with its mouth sewn shut. The hours, minutes and counter hands, as well as the gold hour-markers, are coated with brown PVD, before being filled with luminescent material that glows white during the day and blue at night. The arrow-tipped weeks and seconds hands are red to enhance legibility.
The caseback bears the engravings “Royal Oak Quantième Perpétuel”, “Limited Edition of 200 pieces” and “Utopia is a state of mind”, in reference to Travis Scott’s latest album. The sapphire crystal caseback reveals the openworked 22-carat pink gold oscillating weight bearing the “Audemars Piguet” and “Cactus Jack” signatures.
January 18, 2024