RAW MATERIAL
After a steel variation, the manufacture center stages a version obtained using a never-seen-before alloy that gifts this piece with ever-so subtle, ever-so delicate hues.
Gold, a raw material, a precious material, forever amazes with its incredibly-soft array of colors. By building on its ability to innovate, Audemars Piguet imagined a new 18-karat gold alloy enhanced with palladium and copper, known as sand gold, featuring captivating, warm tones somewhere between white gold ones and rose gold ones, which change depending on the light. And, for perfect harmony, a sand gold shade, obtained using galvanic treatment, also adorns the bridges of the Caliber 2972 rolled out in 2022 to celebrate the iconic Royal Oak’s 50th anniversary. This movement with its outstanding finishes drives the Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Openworked. Thanks to this stylistic choice, this mechanical heart, assembled using some 271 components, and the slim 41 mm-diameter, 10.6 mm-high signature case, topped with its octagonal bezel, create perfect osmosis. In this scenography, the white gold hour and minute hands enjoy a comfortable power reserve of 65 hours enabling them to tick over time accurately.
The craftspeople’s mastery of skeletonizing invites the manufacture to showcase a sculptural timepiece where light roams freely and underscores each element, in particular the regulating device set at 6 o’clock. What’s more, the barrel nestling at 12 o’clock delivers harmonious visual balance. The Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Openworked is accompanied by its can’t-do-without integrated bracelet fashioned with links forged in the same alloy as the case.
