The latest creative partner of the Le Brassus-based manufacturer is the renowned American musician John Mayer. Together with Audemars Piguet Replica, he designed an extraordinary version of the Royal Oak with a perpetual calendar.
In the world of music, John Mayer is known (and recognized) as an outstanding composer, singer, guitarist and a man of many talents, honored with, among others, 7 Grammy Awards. In the world of watches, Mayer has gained recognition as a seasoned collector, watch connoisseur and even the author of several limited editions (created together with Hodinkee). However, he designed the latest one with one of the top Swiss manufacturers, which, by the way, is close to the world of music.
John Mayer and Audemars Piguet have so far been an informal alliance, in the sense that the artist was happy to wear AP watches. Now he will have the opportunity to create his own limited edition, in the creation of which he supposedly had a significant contribution. The choice of a specific model fell on the iconic Royal Oak, in an equally iconic version with a factory perpetual calendar.
Dial
The clou of the Mayer and AP project is a new dial, presenting a brand new finishing technique, which consists in creating an irregular, crystal-like structure on a copper base, intended to imitate a starry sky. It is created in a precise process of electroforming atom by atom, using electric current. The finished dial is covered with a PVD coating in metallic blue, adding an additional shine to the whole.
The aesthetic set includes blue dials with calendar indications: months, leap years, date, moon phases and day of the week, plus a ring surrounding the whole with the weeks of the year. Mayer wanted to maintain the uniformity of the composition, so there are no color accents other than the white-printed scales and divisions. Even the central hand has been blue for weeks so that it almost merges with the color of the dial. The rest of the applications are made of white gold.
The case and bracelet of the watch are made of the same metal. The case is 41 mm in diameter, 9.5 mm thick and has a symbolic 20 m WR. It is finished classically for RO models, with alternating and very carefully applied brushing and polishing. A sapphire glass with a view of the mechanism is mounted in the case back.