Audemars Piguet

Live pix of the Royal Oak Grande Complication

In France, we have an expression: "C'est le mariage de la carpe avec le lapin" (the wedding between a rabbit and a carp) which is used when two very opposite things are stuck together.

It is a bit the story of this Royal Oak Grande Complication. The Grande Complication is the symbol of the high-end classic and complex watches.The first Royal Oak has been, for almost 40 years, the best example of a simple (no second hand), elegant and casual watch.

And despite this huge gap, there is something magic which works with this Royal Oak Grande Complication.

First of all, the subdials are perfectly integrated on the dial (thanks to its symetric layout) even if the indexes, the hands, the tapestry pattern are very faithful to the Royal Oak style.

At 12 o'clock, you will notice one of the main feautres of caliber AP2885: the week display. When you add this function to the time display, the minutes repeater, the split-seconds chronograph and of course, the perpetual calendar, you understand that this watch deserves its "Grande Complication" seal !

Caliber AP2885 was unveiled in 1995. It has a power reserve of 50 hours and a quite unusual frequency (2,75hz). It is composed by around 650 parts which is not, due to the amount of complication and its self-winding system, a huge number.

The first Royal Oak was a very slender watch (a thickness of 8mm).

This Royal Oak Grande Complication is the thicker Royal Oak with a height of around 15mm. But due to a quite reasonable diameter (44mm)/height ratio, the watch is still harmonious. The Minute repeater slide is located on the left side and it is well integrated in the overall design thanks to its sharp shape.

When we look at the caliber, it is not so impressive at first glance. We appreciate the rotor finishings, the contrast between it and the other parts but we have seen more attractive ones before. In fact, we appreciate it on a long run. We appreciate its depth, the perfect technical finishings, the way the hammers play and thell the time...

The Royal Oak Grande Complication is a rare watch, only around 10 watches are produced every year due to the complexity of caliber AP 2885. It is available with a WG case and a black or a white dial.

Even if such gathering of complications seems to be strange in the Royal Oak context, I was seduced by this unusual watch and by its elegancy.