PHOTO COURTESY OF AUDEMARS PIGUET
Think of Audemars Piguet, and the iconic Royal Oak immediately comes to mind. The Swiss watchmaker continues to defy convention by collaborating with New York artist Brian Donnelly on its latest horological masterpiece. With the exclusive KAWS x Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon, the extensive collection enters another era that integrates art and watchmaking.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AUDEMARS PIGUET
As always, the Royal Oak impresses with its distinctive octagonal shape and signature eight hexagonal screws on the bezel. Beneath the sapphire crystal display and upon the sunburst dial lies a rendering of the KAWS Companion in full titanium.
A longtime KAWS icon, the cartoonish character charms with its X-ed out eyes, skull-shaped head, quirky gloves and crossbones ears. Now, it takes on the Royal Oak with the KAWS Companion’s chest revealing the tourbillon at the six o’clock position. The hand-wound Calibre 2979 powers this sublime timepiece, of which there are only 250 pieces worldwide.
To read the time, Audemars Piguet engineered a special peripheral display to avoid crowding the aesthetics of the KAWS Companion. The titanium hour and minute hands both contain luminescent elements that will turn blue in the dark. They rotate by way of two superimposed gear wheels within the sandblasted titanium case.
Each watch comes with two interchangeable leather straps, one in dark grey calfskin and the other in slate grey with a textile pattern. The KAWS x Audemars Piguet 43MM Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon is certainly one for the history books and not to be missed by fans and collectors alike.
