Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 42mm Watches

Audemars Piguet rolled out some pretty impressive new hardware this year at SIHH, as per usual.  While the focus over the past few years has been on their iconic Jumbo (which celebrated a 40th Anniversary in 2012 or some of their lesser known Haute Horology pieces (such as the Jules Audemars Tourbillon), this year is all about that other collection stalwart: The Royal Oak Offshore.

The original Royal Oak Offshore was released to the public in 1993 as a follow up to Gerald Genta’s much applauded A-Series “Jumbo”.  This was the second time Audemars Piguet took a serious gamble with the Royal Oak, and the second time they knocked it out of the park.  Just as the original Royal Oak Jumbo can be credited with creating an entirely new category of wristwatch in 1972 (the Luxury Sports Watch), the Royal Oak Offshore (as the new models came to be known after the 1993 launch) was really the first watch for the next generation of luxury timepiece consumers, and launched another entirely new category: The Oversized Sports Luxury Watch.

Of course, the first Royal Oak Offshore (we’ll call it a ROO from here on in) wasn’t exactly oversized by today’s standards, measuring in at 42mm in diameter.  But in 1993 it was an absolute monster.  With an extra thick case and a beefy bracelet that looked like the original Gay Freres unit on steroids, it made quite the statement. In the past twenty years, the Offshore collection has grown almost as much in size as it has in variety of styles, and has become an icon in its own right, despite the fact that they have become so large that they are downright unwearable by many an enthusiast.

But to those who do wear them, the ROO is a religion, with many owning more than one version.  A nearly innumerable number of variants have been produced in the past 20 years, commemorating collaborations with musicians, actors, and athletes, as well as a wide variety of dedicated task watches, such as the popular Diver.  To some, obsession with the ROO is hard to comprehend, while others liken it to other cultish collector stereotypes, such as the vintage Rolex crowd.  Regardless of your take on the model, there is little question that the ROO has made a significant impact on sporting timepieces, and the model has been copied by numerous other brands in attempt to capture some of AP’s success.