Whenever you personal some of the iconic watch designs in historical past, it is sensible that solely the largest names in movie star are allowed to come back in and tinker with it. In relation to collaborations, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak roster is stacked certainly, drawing luminaries from varied fields like style, films, sports activities, and music for recent dials and colourways. Prior to now 12 months alone, it had labored with the likes of Travis Scott, style model 1017 ALYX 9SM, haute couturier Tamara Ralph, and even Spider-Man.
However its newest partnership with John Mayer is one so synergistic we’re just a little shocked it didn’t occur sooner. Not as a result of the person is an achieved singer-songwriter with a closet filled with Grammys (seven, finally depend), however as a result of his assortment of watches is arguably simply as spectacular, estimated to be value about US$40 million (S$53.9 million) — about a quarter of his net worth according to CNBC’s The Filthy Rich Guide.
This stash contains uncommon fashions from the Royal Oak line just like the Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie in titanium and Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in white ceramic. However what Mayer envisioned for his design is totally unique: A Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar with a “Crystal Sky” dial. The closest Audemars Piguet has come to such a design is within the long-discontinued fashions with hand-hammered “Tuscan” dials, however this reference makes use of a stamping die created by electroforming for even larger textural element. This course of entails submerging a mould in a liquid metallic resolution and operating an electrical present by the liquid, inflicting metallic particles to stay to the mould. The metallic builds up over time, permitting the creation of this glittering “crystal sky”.
Mayer additionally made some minor aesthetic tweaks that eagle-eyed house owners of normal Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars ought to discover: The numbers “31” on the date subdial at the moment are in white as a substitute of pink, and are additionally smaller and barely stepped to differentiate it from the adjoining quantity “1”. He selected a light-weight blue shade for the week-indicating hand, and the phrases “Swiss Made” now reside contained in the moon part sub dial for the primary time, relatively than on the dial’s edge at 6 o’clock.