Due to a change in its business model, legendary watchmaker Audemars Piguet opted out of the invitation-only Watches & Wonders trade show following the 2019 fair (then called Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie). Since then, it’s no longer had to compete on the ticker with other big-name watch brands as word of new models, movements, and novelties gets out the week of the show.
As such, AP is dropping some new releases the week after. Or maybe, it just didn’t want one of its most significant debuts of the year to go overshadowed — if that were even possible. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the game-changing Royal Oak Offshore in 1993 (which itself was released as a 20th-anniversary chronograph take on the standard Royal Oak), Audemars has come out with a black and yellow version of the watch to honor the piece that brought the timepiece to a broader audience.
1999 saw the debut of the movie End of Days, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which was a modest hit compared to the actor’s other releases that decade. Nonetheless, the film came with a partnership between Arnie and AP, after which a run of just 500 pieces was made of the Royal Oak Offshore “End of Days” edition, marking one of the first celebrity watch collaborations and also sending the popularity of the oversized chronograph through the stratosphere. This new 2023 version, also limited to 500, swaps the Black-PVD stainless steel case for black ceramic, bumps the diameter up to 43mm (from 42mm), removes the numerals, and rearranges the totalizer configuration on the dial. Adorned with a black textile-style calfskin strap with yellow stitching, it also utilizes the modern in-house Caliber 4401 movement and adds the now-prevalent Mega Tapisserie dial pattern.
This isn’t the first 30th-anniversary Offshore model released this year. We’ve already seen the first all-black ceramic version of the chronograph back in February. However, the connection to Arnie is highly significant to the brand. You can head over to Audemars Piguet’s website to get yourself the black and yellow Royal Oak Offshore for $60,300.
