Genta Meets Breguet: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Ref. 26730TI

Audemars Piguet. Known today for the Royal Oak, but bearing a high horology legacy dating back to 1875, the brand has a dual identity. Old and new. These two sides of the AP coin are often in conflict, but more often, in harmony. Today, we are looking at one such example, the Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon, reference 26730TI. This piece brings the sporty appeal of the iconic Royal Oak design, and combines it with an expertly executed flying tourbillon, perhaps a tribute to the extensive Audemars Piguet legacy. 

History

While AP’s most successful line today is undoubtedly the Royal Oak, AP didn’t achieve its holy trinity status starting in 1972. Founded in the heart of the Swiss watchmaking industry in the Vallee de Joux in 1875, Audemars Piguet quickly distinguished itself by creating its own complicated movements, and movement components from the ground up. Soon the brand progressed to building complete pocket watches to fuel a rapidly growing customer base. 

The future for Audemars Piguet, and the luxury watch industry as a whole, changed dramatically in 1972, when the brand released the Royal Oak. This piece upended the luxury market. First, the piece was executed in the most “lowly” of materials— stainless steel. Furthermore, this stainless steel, industrial-inspired design was more expensive than many precious metal dress pieces from AP and other competitors. The Royal Oak marked a paradigm shift not only for AP, but for the industry, changing the definition of what luxury looked like with wrist watches. 

While today Audemars Piguet is certainly heavily invested in the Royal Oak, the brand has used the collection as a way of making complications available to a completely different customer than the more buttoned up clientele attracted by Patek and Vacheron. 

Take this reference 26730TI for example. Appealing to even a hip customer, this piece allows a new type of consumer to access the world of grand complications. For that, AP is an industry leader and a pioneer for change in the watch community. This piece incorporates a tourbillon regulator, first patented by Breuget in 1801 and popularized in the years the followed.

Design Details

This piece may be a Royal Oak, but a number of key design choices let this piece stick out from the rest of the collection. Firstly, and most obviously, this piece is paired with a tourbillon. But we’ll discuss that in detail later. More subtly, instead of using stainless steel for this watch, AP chose titanium. Lightweight and possessing a decidedly gray tone, titanium complements the gray/ blue of the dial brilliantly. The dial is the second major place of deviation from classic Royal Oak DNA. In place of the tapisserie “hobnail” three dimensional dial finish, in the case of the reference 26730TI, AP has instead opted for a sandblasted finish. This is all to underscore that before we even get to the complication, AP wanted to distinguish this watch from the rest of its offerings. There’s something special going on. 

Beyond these immediate differences, there’s quite a bit more familiar— the faceted, expertly finished case, octagonal bezel, the beautiful and comfortable Royal Oak bracelet, tub indexes and hands, and octagonal crown. 

This piece measures 41mm in diameter, the equivalent of your classic Jumbo Royal Oak, and a super wearable 10.6mm in thickness— an impressive dimension considering the watch has a tourbillon (many tourbillons are chunky). 

Inner Workings

The highlight of this watch is undoubtedly its tourbillon. The caliber 2950 within features automatic-winding and a 65 hour power reserve. The most unique aspect of this tourbillon, however, is that it is a flying tourbillon. This means that the tourbillon features no bridge on the top of the tourbillon cage, giving an unobstructed view of the movement. This gives the escapement the illusion of “flying”, suspended in the middle of the aperture. 

This particular piece was introduced as a special edition to celebrate 50 years of the Royal Oak. Therefore, in place of the plain central winding rotor, on this reference, AP engraved the “50 years” moniker on it. The most important aspect of this movement is its thickness. It is only 6.3mm thick. And while this watch packs a tourbillon (and therefore would be susceptible to a thicker profile), this movement is about as slim as they come, allowing the watch to wear well in spite of its complication. 

Versus the Competition

The single greatest competition for any Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon would be Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas Tourbillon. Especially popular in the stunning blue dial variant, in addition to all the wonderful details of the Overseas line (which you are likely to either prefer, or not), Vacheron has beautifully integrated their Maltese cross signature into the tourbillon cage of the movement. Another movement detail that I personally have always admired on the Overseas is the perfect use of a peripheral rotor rather than a centrally-winding oscillating weight that ensures that the tourbillon is never obscured on the caseback by the rotor. This detail is bang on from Vacheron. 

Alternatively, if you’re perhaps a bit more adventurous but still want an integrated bracelet sporty tourbillon, you might consider the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton Tourbillon. We’ve recently covered this piece in depth on The Collective. This watch is incredibly cool, both because of its integration into the Octo repertoire, and also its extreme thinness. For more information refer to our article here.

Finally, on the more serious side of the isle, I think you cannot beat the Lange 1815 tourbillon. Decidedly a dressier piece than our previous options, I think this piece, the 1815 collection specifically, and Langes more generally, have a quality of being able to be dressed down quite easily with a simple change of a strap. Leave this on alligator and you have an ultimate dress complication. Pop it on a suede strap, and you can wear the watch classily with jeans. 

Personality

While there are certainly a whole host of sporty pieces out there, the collector that opts for the Flying Tourbillon Royal Oak is looking for something more. Not simply a sports watch, but a sports watch with taste. Wearing this piece is an indication that you didn’t just buy a Royal Oak because your watch friend told you the Royal Oak is one of the greatest designs of all time. You bought this piece because you appreciate the mechanical sophistication, or aesthetic beauty of the tourbillon. You appreciate the details that help separate this titanium piece from the rest of the AP Royal Oak pantheon. In short, you’re a collector with a refined appetite for the watch that is popular, but has a taste of something more. 

Final Thoughts

In summary, what we are dealing with here is quite a special watch. Perhaps you noticed the subtle details that AP changed on the Royal Oak design and realized this was a special piece. Regardless, by the end you should  have a good appreciation of the way this piece seamlessly integrates AP’s modern, and historical chops on the Royal Oak front and on the historical side with the tourbillon. This is a serious watch, and one that certainly belongs in any Royal Oak lover’s collection that can afford it. 

See More of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Ref. 26730TI

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