Watch of the week: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Ultra-Thin

The latest Self-winding Perpetual Calendar from the Swiss luxury watchmaker has slimmed down

You can always count on Audemars Piguet to have something impressive up their sleeves — and this svelte new Royal Oak Self-winding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin is no exception.

Quietly taking the title of the world’s thinnest automatic perpetual calendar, this latest release is an evolution of the RD#2 prototype the brand exhibited at SIHH 2018 — with both watches owing their lean looks to the same series of pioneering, patented innovations developed in-house at the Maison.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Ultra-Thin
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Ultra-Thin

And Audemars Piguet, never one to rest on its bezels, has made a few changes since SIHH. This Royal Oak has been refined and redesigned in the past year — with titanium and platinum delivering a watch that is both ultra-thin and ultra-light.

It’s a multi-metal approach that also offers a pleasing contrast between polished and brushed, an effect that stretches the length of the integrated bracelet. And a new blue satin finish dial also boosts legibility; an important development for a watch that tells not only the time, but also the day, date, month, leap year and astronomical moon phase.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Ultra-Thin

Of course, the Swiss brand has been condensing good things into small packages for decades — in 1921, it launched the thinnest pocket watch ever created. So, even if you miss out on this latest limited-run boutique exclusive, there’ll always be the next launch from Audemars Piguet. And, with watches this thin, there’s still plenty of room for surprises up those sleeves.

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