Audemars Piguet

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Happy Anniversary to ThePuristS and Audemars Piguet: Prototype series 3, the Royal Oak Offshore

To celebrate the 12^th Anniversary of ThePuristS and the 20^th anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, I thought it would be fitting to share a few pics of the Royal Oak Offshore Prototype Number 000. 

This special Offshore is in the private collection of a fellow PuristS and I had a unique opportunity to view the watch and spend some wrist time with it.  The owner shared with me an interesting story about this Offshore; it was originally a prototype piece worn by AP’s Managing Director at the time, Stephen Urquhart, and when our fellow PuristS first saw it he was fascinated by the unique color and how awesome it was compared to other watches.  He took it off Mr. Urquhart’s wrist and it has been in the PuristS collection since then.   It is worn on a somewhat frequent basis and has the original movement, original finishing and even the original yellow leather strap with a stainless steel tang buckle.  Interestingly enough the movement has never been serviced and runs very accurately.   The chronograph function works well and still has a crisp feel when activating the pushers.

The Offshore was not just about size, but also function.  A key component in the design was anti-magnetism and the watch was fitted with special plates under the dial and on the caseback, along with a soft iron cage around the movement. 

In 1992, the classic Royal Oak was celebrating it’s 20^th anniversary so Audemars Piguet delayed the release of the Offshore until the following year.  AP offered the first model in 1993 as the Royal Oak Offshore reference #25721.

The prototype Offshore case is slightly different from the standard Offshore where it does not have the two central links.  I actually prefer this case style since it allows the strap to flex and conform to my small wrists.  The regular Offshore models with the central links are stiffer and angles out the strap.  The disadvantage of this is that a steel bracelet cannot be attached to this case version.  These Offshore ‘Tutti Frutti’ models were offered in various colors as reference 25770. 

This prototype Offshore has made it’s way around various PuristS events and GTG’s throughout the past few years.  It even accompanied several PuristS for a trip to Taipei to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Taipei 101 Boutique.  Shown here is the prototype along with one of the first production ‘Bumblebee’ Offshores with the forged carbon case and ceramic bezel.

Somebody really likes yellow and Gerald Genta designs!