The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Skeleton Watch is the first time I was attracted to at SIHH 2016. AudemarsPiguet provided a series of really confusing new watches at the exhibition. Of course, their iconic Royal Oak series also received many new models in attractive forms, mostly very high-end. Nevertheless, one of the few Royal Oak watches made of steel is quite high-end in the Royal Oak double balance wheel skeleton movement. Of course, it is also made of 18k rose gold.

When I debuted the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openwork series with its novel self-made 3132 self-winding movement, I didn’t have a very critical message. This information is actually the accuracy of the “double balance” concept developed by Audemars Piguet to improve the stability of the regulation system.

Audemars Piguet has been looking for a way to reduce the impact of reduced accuracy caused by the natural tendency of the balance to change its performance according to various variables. All changes from the position of the wrist to the temperature will cause subtle changes in the way the balance wheel operates, which will greatly affect the accuracy over time.

The holy grail of any mechanical watch movement manufacturer must have a completely firm and stable adjustment system that is not affected by environmental changes. Of course, in a watch worn on the wrist in various situations, this is actually impossible, but it is possible to achieve it through a system that increases rate stability and increases accuracy over time.

Therefore, the brand claims that the accuracy of the 3132 movement of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance wheel openwork watch is 30% higher than that of a similar movement without this system. This is not a trivial performance increase, accuracy fans (and Royal Oaks) may flock to this beautiful concept. Of course, Audemars Piguet may just hide this new system in the AAA High Quality watch case, or it can only be seen through the case back, but they become a “complete skeleton”, showing off its new movement with pride and style.

The operating frequency of the 3132 self-winding movement is 3 Hz (21,600 bph) and the power reserve is 45 hours. The movement composed of 245 parts made its debut in the exquisite “openwork” form and is equipped with a gorgeous rose gold balance bridge. The novel concept of this movement is all in the “double-sided” balance wheel structure. The center rod (pinion) connects the balance wheel to the hairspring structure. The two balance wheels are connected, but technically operate independently. Their idea of ​​”averaging each other” (so to speak) is that the accidental mistake of one will be compensated by the “more real” operation of the other.

The balance wheels are actually very close to each other, so if you only look at the movement of the movement without knowing what to look for, you may easily miss the whole special concept of 3132. In many ways, it operates like most other sports, but has a more stable (converted to accuracy over time) regulation system.

Audemars Piguet executes the typical high-end decoration and finishes of the skeleton movement. The result is beautiful, and the slightly reduced readability can be easily forgiven compared to the hard-dial Royal Oak replica watches uk. Having said that, the rose gold hour markers and matching hands are completely complete. Moreover, even if there is no official power reserve indicator, the main barrel is hollowed out. By allowing people to see how tight the spring is, it provides a rough power reserve indicator system.

In order to maintain the modern style, the bridges of the 3132 movement are mostly dark gray tones and are finished with very traditional surface treatment techniques (for example, edging, brushing and polishing beveled edges). The movement is masculine, but traditionally beautiful, with a good mix of colors, hues, and visually noticeable areas-not to mention a good aesthetic balance.

According to Audemars Piguet, this is actually the first 41mm wide Royal Oak case with a hollow dial. That being said, this is not the only 41mm wide Royal Oak Openworked (openworked) watch in 2016. In stainless steel, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked is very interesting, but in 18k rose gold, it is a completely different watch.

Speaking of gold, it is important to mention that Audemars Piguet is actually trying to restore 18k gold this year as an option for Royal Oak watches. Sometimes it is difficult to determine the difference between gold on the wrist and pink/rose/red gold, but the difference between the two types of gold is very obvious.

Considering the metal content in the Royal Oak case and bracelet, the price difference between Audemars Piguet Royal Oak double balance wheel hollow steel and rose gold is certainly not insignificant. The Royal Oak with a skeletonized dial is completely different from the Royal Oak with a more traditional “Mega Tapisserie” dial-therefore, this artistic dial treatment makes the overall composition of the watch very distinctive, even for those familiar with wearing it So the Royal Oak watch.

Compared with the “standard” Royal Oak automatic winding movement of the 3132 movement, the performance has been improved by 30%, which does increase the appeal of enthusiasts, because although Audemars Piguet does not frequently introduce new movements, they rarely do. The new “simple” or daily wear movement, orienteering.

Therefore, 3132 is even rarer in this regard. Although there are many great new watches at SIHH 2016, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Skeleton Watch is particularly outstanding because it combines the appeal of hardcore watch enthusiasts with pragmatic innovation. The stainless steel reference price of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Skeleton Watch is 15400ST.OO.1220ST.01, and the 18k rose gold 15407OR.OO.1220OR.01.