Audemars Piguet

Another milestone, another celebration!

This year we see AP refreshes its basic 42mm ROO line after a successful 20 years of voyage. Much have been discussed about since SIHH 2014, the good, the doubtful, the controversial… and AP has been busy going around the world to officially launch these new timepieces in style. 

It's always a pleasure to attend one of these parties to witness and celebrate the happy occasion. This time, AP Singapore picked a tranquil location at the popular Dempsey Hill area for the event. As usual, the setting was trendy, the food was exquisite, the atmosphere was merry and overall feeling was appropriately "Offshore chic"  

Oliviero and guests

Assorted cheese and pastry

Potato chips that looked like dry leaves!

Edible sand

My snacks

There was a display corner at one end of the party hall which was set up to showcase the iconic 42mm ROO timepieces from its birth in 1993 till date. It was fascinating to see those elusive Limited Editions which are usually rare to be seen even on the internet. All these years, there have been countless comments, or rather complaints, in various forums about the seemingly endless editions of ROO. I used to subscribe to the similar sentiment as looking at the pictures online or in prints, they really look rather similar with only changes in color schemes. They look flat! However, upon seeing them in real life, I must admit that I was so wrong. For every LE, the different material, texture and color combo really makes each of them pops, and thus unique in its own right. 

Original ROO was nicknamed "The Beast"

Survivor LE

57th Street LE

Ginza LE in Rose Gold

As I gazed around at the sumptuous ROOs in the showcase, I was quickly, and firmly, floored by the genius of Gerald Genta and the courage and foresight of Emmanuel Gueit for their ahead-of-time vision in timepiece design. AP's full exploitation of the Offshore line as a platform to experiment with high watch making technology makes it such a brilliant business strategy and the future of the product line is full of unknown excitement. As a lover of RO and ROO, I am certainly looking forward to the exciting future. But for the very moment, the spot light was on the launching of the refreshed ROOs which are meant to be the anchor products in time to come…

Oliviero and the AP Singapore Boutique team led by the elegant Bindy were ready for the big reveal…

Photo time! 

I've shared my impression on the 2014 ROOs in my previous thread titled "A Union of Friendship, Audemars Piguet & the New 2014 AP ROO Novelties" which can be found here: ap.watchprosite.com  Seeing all the new 2014 42mm ROOs again had only deepened my appreciation for them. Perhaps the bigger excitement for me this time was the opportunity to get my hands on the much controversial white ceramic Diver and white ceramic 44mm novelty. There are lots of love and hate for these white creations when they were first revealed. I chose to remain neutral before seeing them in person because from experience AP watches could not be pre-judged before seeing them in metal (or ceramic in this case). 

So what's the verdict of these white ceramic ROOs after the brief encounter? I think both of them are sporty, ultra trendy and BOLD. The finishing of the white ceramic was top-notch, easily the best in the business. I believe in AP that these white ceramic watches are sturdier and technically more challenging to produce. Design wise, I must say that the all-white combo with splashes of dark blue, titanium grey and red (for chrono) is a very fashionable presentation of a highly technical timepiece. On the wrist, I feel that they are more decorative than utilitarian compared to their siblings in SS, FC and black ceramic. They look so clean and delicate I will be hesitating to wear them for sports or even expose them to elements, although the white ceramic should be able to withstand the treatment in theory. The all-white watches are also less versatile due to their casual nature, making them relatively more expensive than their siblings in terms of cost-benefit ratio. However, with their highly fashionable attributes, they are potentially serial head-turners and easily a talking point in any party.

While I was savoring the delicious chocolate dessert and the bubbly champagne, another pleasant surprise was presented to me: The new Limited Edition QE II Cup Diver. I am a fan of tantalum watch, and I had been longing to see this particular ROO Diver in tantalum and rose gold since it was revealed in April. And here was it, Oliviero's personal possession! 

I love the weight of the massive tantalum case. The solid rose gold bezel, ever so shiny, added more weight and visual contrast to complete the handsome look. A 2-tone watch might be an acquired taste for many, but I find this particular combination of tantalum and rose gold is an attractive one, as the darker tone of tantalum fully complements the brilliance of the AP-finshed rose gold. Another worthy point to mention is the grey alligator strap that was paired with the watch. I think the it completes this particular watch. I love this reference! Although I still can't comprehend why a diver watch was used to commemorate a horse-racing event? And why leather strap came as a standard accessory for a diver watch? 

The guests were clearly enjoying themselves with the food and watch tasting throughout the fine evening. For me, another enjoyable part of this party was to spot all sorts of ROOs on the guests' wrists. As a person who likes more classical looking watches, my biggest catch of the evening was none other than this Perpetual Calendar ROO:

I love its complication… I love its iconic classical look… I love how close it was with my "Beast" in terms of design DNA. Somehow, this encounter made me feel very blessed and elated to be a proud owner of the "original ROO". Thus a customary shot like this has become a perfect souvenir for me to take away from this cool party.

Thanks for reading!

Wayne

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