For the first time, the 41 mm case and bracelet of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar are entirely honed from blue ceramic. A light material resistant to wear and scratches, ceramic accentuates the slenderness of this timepiece measuring 9.5 mm in thickness. 

Ceramic requires precise manufacturing and meticulous hand-decorations to respond to the manufacture’s high quality requirements. Zirconium Oxide (ZrO2) powder, modified to obtain a blue pigmentation once baked, is mixed with dedicated binder content before being transformed into ceramic through a complex industrial flow requiring different stages of high-precision machining. The components achieve their final colour only once they have been sintered at more than 1,400 deg C.

The manufacture’s artisans have harmonised the blue-toned colours of the Grande Tapisserie dial, subdials and inner bezel, obtained by physical vapour deposition (PVD), to the blue ceramic case and bracelet, conferring the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar a contemporary monochromatic aesthetic. The 18-carat white gold applied hour-markers and faceted hands, filled with luminescent coating for optimum visibility in the dark, provide a bright contrast.

With its three calendar subdials and moon phase aperture equally distributed on the dial, the watch presents a fine aesthetic balance, while granting optimum legibility of the hours, minutes, day, date, week, month, astronomical moon and leap year indication.

This new model is equipped with the selfwinding Calibre 5134, which testifies to the manufacture’s savoir-faire in terms of classic complications. This mechanism automatically takes into account the number of days in the month and correctly displays the prevailing date even in leap years.

The sapphire caseback reveals the traditional Haute Horlogerie decorations adorning Calibre 5134: Côtes de Genève, circular graining, sunray brushing and polished chamfers.

Audemars Piguet also unveiled its latest Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Extra-Thin (RD#3) model recently. This 37mm anniversary model, which complements the 39mm “Jumbo” timepiece released earlier this year, pushes the limits of the manufacture’s craft one step further. For the first time, the company has introduced a flying tourbillon in this smaller diameter making it available to the slenderer wrists, thanks to its latest ultra-thin self-winding flying tourbillon movement, Calibre 2968, which measures a mere 3.4 mm in thickness and adorns a combination of traditional and contemporary hand-decorations.

Enriched with an innovative escapement and an unprecedented plum dial, this timepiece interweaves technical complexity with aesthetic details for extreme refinement, while paying tribute to the brand’s legacy of small and mid-sized complicated timepieces.