The overall market of the world's famous watches continues to decline, and many of the hot styles of the year are on par with the public price, and it is in this environment that there are still a very small number of watches that have doubled in size and are actually worth more than one million. Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak "JUMBO" ultra-thin cut-out is one of them. And this year, the new platinum shell royal oak "JUMBO" ultra-thin skeleton 16204BC, it is here (BC means platinum shell, JUMBO is the first royal oak in history in 1972, and the nickname of its 39mm offspring).
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 39 mm "JUMBO" ultra-thin skeleton 16204, white gold case.
The new Royal Oak Ultra-Thin Skeleton 16204 White Gold case is one of the most important new Audemars Piguet watches of the year. For example, when it comes to the level of the Royal Rubber Hollow 16204, the price is no longer displayed on the official website of Audemars Piguet. According to the previous style, the public price of the new platinum 16204 should be around 900,000, and the actual price in the market is above 1.5 million. Why the value is so high, let me tell you below.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 39 mm "JUMBO" ultra-thin skeleton 16204, white gold case.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, from ancient times to the present, has a "countless" variety. However, the first direct descendant of the Royal Oak 5402 in 1972 has only one pure bloodline that continues to this day, namely the Royal Oak "JUMBO" ultra-thin 16202 on sale today, and the 16204 is its hollowed-out version. This hollow is even more incredible, the hollow model is only launched on big days such as the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the Royal Oak, and the 16204 that is now on sale was launched on the 50th anniversary (2022, the last time was in 2012), this 16204BC is its platinum model.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 39mm "JUMBO" with skeleton 16204 on top and regular dial 16202 on bottom.
In the traditional Swiss watchmaking troika, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the Patek Philippe Nautilus, and Vacheron Constantin crisscrossed the world, and now only the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak still retains the simple skeleton model, and the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Vacheron Constantin crisscross the world, and there are no similar products (note that the hollow is only on the tourbillon and perpetual calendar).
Previous generation 15203 (left) and new generation 16204 (right)
Royal Oak Ultra-Thin Skeleton 16204, White Gold Case, Replaces Steel Case.
This year, Royal Oak introduced the Skeleton 16204 Platinum Case, which replaced the previously introduced steel case, which was discontinued. The reason is also very simple, white gold and steel shells, both silver. In the case of the same appearance, the discontinuation of the steel shell, which not only maintains the rarity of the steel shell 16204, but also further increases the value of the 16204 through the new platinum shell. The Royal Oak Ultra-Thin Skeleton 16204 currently on sale is all gold watches (white gold, yellow gold, rose gold).
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 39mm "JUMBO" ultra-thin cut-out 16204, cut-out dial.
This platinum-shelled Royal Oak 16204 is 39 mm thick and 8.1 mm thick, using the same size as the Royal Oak "JUMBO" 16202. With a thickness of 8.1 mm, it is thinner than the Nautilus 5811 and the 4500V/4520V. As the originator of the "all-in-one" luxury sports watch, the Royal Oak 39mm "JUMBO" has the most orthodox head-bracelet shape. Sporty at the same time, both ultra-thin and formal, is the only benchmark for "all-in-one" luxury sports watches.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 39 mm "JUMBO" ultra-thin skeleton 16204 with a thickness of only 8.1 mm.
White gold case, bezel, large area brushed, polished only on the bezel, case edges. The brushing of the Royal Oak is very sharp, and Audemars Piguet has taken the brushing to a new level of art. 8 white gold decorative screws stand out on the large-area brushed bezel.
The Royal Oak "JUMBO" is ultra-thin and is the progenitor of all all-in-one luxury sports watches.
Gold Au750 logo on the case.
The bracelet, which is integrated with the watch head, is gradually tightened and narrowed from top to bottom. The bracelet and intermediate links are also brushed. On the folding clasp, there is an AP logo.
Bracelet detail.
The skeleton of the Royal Oak 16204 is based on Audemars Piguet's new-generation automatic calibre 7121.
The plate of the Royal Oak 16204 is all hollowed out. It should be noted that this generation of Royal Oak has an ultra-thin hollow, with the calendar removed, and the hollowing is more thorough, and the area dug up is larger (the previous generation in 2012 had a calendar). Through the skeleton, we can clearly see the plate of the movement below. The barrel at 10 o'clock can also be seen with a coiled mainspring inside. From the barrel, along the left side of the dial, there are two wheels, three wheels, four wheels (second wheel), escape wheel, and balance wheel, which are clear at a glance. On the right side of the disc surface, it is mainly the dial pin and the winding gear train. The applied indexes and indexes circle around the dial.
Cut-out detail on the dial.
Traveling wheel train part.
Pick pin and winding gear section.
Although the Royal Oak 16204 is generally a modern cut-out style, the upper layer is hollowed out "skeleton", which is plated with dark colors to form a difference between light and dark. If we take a closer look, we will see that the movement is very well polished, on the same level as Patek Philippe. The upper layer is hollowed out with a "skeleton" and chamfered and polished, while the lower bridge is decorated with fish scales, and the movement gears are also brushed.
Cut-out polished details.
Note that the balance wheel of the movement, with its free-stalling micro-adjustment weights, is all "buried" in order to reduce the thickness. At the same time, the balance spring outer pile independent of the balance is unique and beautiful. On other watch movements, it is very rare to have a hairspring outer stake with a separate bridge.
The balance wheel is distributed, and the separate balance spring outer pile splint on the left is visible.
The Royal Oak 16202 (regular) / 16204 (skeleton) 39 mm "JUMBO" is powered by Audemars Piguet's new-generation automatic calibre 7121 (skeleton 7124). The Royal Oak 39 mm "JUMBO" is thinner than the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Vacheron Constantin thanks to this movement.
Audemars Piguet 7121 ultra-thin automatic movement, regular version.
Skeleton calibre 7124 based on the 7121 movement.
Cut-out detailing.
This movement, developed specifically for the 39 mm Royal Oak "JUMBO", can be said to be "unusable" for other watches. Because the 7121 calibre compresses the thickness to 3.2 mm, and at the same time has to take into account the date fast adjustment, 28800 pendulum frequency, 55-hour power, and automatic winding, so it is necessary to lay out all the time train along the edge of the movement, leaving room for the mainspring and automatic winding. Therefore, the four wheels (second wheels) are squeezed to the 7 o'clock position on the dial, and it is impossible to lay out the second hand normally like a general watch (adding a wheel to change the position of the second hand will destroy the ultra-thinness).
The layout of the 7124 calibre shows the seconds wheel at 7 o'clock.
Fortunately, the Royal Oak 16202 (regular dial) / 16204 (skeleton dial) are both two-hand watches, and there is no problem with the second hand. Audemars Piguet has developed a new calibre for the new generation of the Royal Oak 39mm "JUMBO", replacing the 2121 calibre from Jaeger-LeCoultre, which shows how important it is to Audemars Piguet, which also increases the value of the Royal Oak 16202 (regular dial) / 16204 (skeleton dial).
Cut-out detailing.
One of the most valuable of the royal oaks.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak has three main branches. They are, the Royal Oak "JUMBO" ultra-thin two-needle, the Royal Oak regular automatic large three-needle, and the Royal Oak offshore type. Among them, the royal oak "JUMBO" is ultra-thin and has always been the most valuable.
The Audemars Piguet logo can be seen, which is printed on the sapphire mirror.
ANY OF THE ROYAL OAK "JUMBO" ULTRA-THIN, WHETHER REGULAR, OPENWORKED, STEEL OR GOLD, CONTINUES THE "ULTRA-THIN" LINEAGE OF THE FIRST ROYAL OAK IN 1972. AUDEMARS PIGUET HAS BEEN STRICTLY CONTROLLING THE PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY OF THE ROYAL OAK "JUMBO" TO ENSURE THAT THIS ONLY PURE "BLOODLINE" IS ALWAYS RARE AND NOBLE. (Photo/text: Watch House, Yan Danping)