Audemars Piguet / Royal Oak Concept
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept
Collection profile · 2002
Audemars Piguet’s experimental Royal Oak platform, launched in 2002 and used for concept-watch materials, tourbillons, futuristic architecture, and limited cultural collaborations.
Collection shots
Pronunciation & name
ROY-ul OAK KON-sept
Collectors usually shorten the line to “Royal Oak Concept” or “ROC”.
Why it matters
Royal Oak Concept is where Audemars Piguet pushes the Royal Oak architecture furthest: experimental materials, openworked movements, tourbillons, and collaborations that would be too extreme for the classic Royal Oak line.
Key references
Collection timeline
- 2002 — Audemars Piguet launches the Royal Oak Concept for the Royal Oak’s 30th anniversary.
- 2020 — The Frosted Gold Flying Tourbillon brings Carolina Bucci’s surface treatment into the Concept family.
- 2024 — The KAWS collaboration shows the Concept line operating as a cultural-collaboration platform.
News
- Royal Oak Concept remains an official AP collection Current collection — AP maintains Royal Oak Concept as a distinct family in the official collection architecture. ↗
- Royal Oak Concept CW1 sells for HK$1,000,000 Auction — Phillips’ auction record for the CW1 gives market context for the original Concept era. ↗
- Frosted Gold Flying Tourbillon enters the Concept family 2020 — Hodinkee’s coverage documents the 26630BC and 26630OR references and the Carolina Bucci connection. ↗
- KAWS collaboration brings pop-culture energy to Royal Oak Concept 2024 — The KAWS x Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept shows the line’s role in high-profile cultural collaborations. ↗
Fun facts
The lab branch of Royal Oak
Concept is the Royal Oak line where AP can push shapes and materials beyond the classic octagonal formula.
Watchatlas editorial note
From tourbillons to KAWS
The same collection can host tourbillon engineering and pop-culture collaborations, which is exactly why it needs its own page.
Watchatlas editorial note
FAQ
What is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept?
Royal Oak Concept is AP’s experimental branch of the Royal Oak family, used for futuristic cases, complications, and limited collaborations.
When did Royal Oak Concept launch?
The Royal Oak Concept line began in 2002 with the CW1, created around the Royal Oak’s 30th anniversary.
How is Royal Oak Concept different from Royal Oak?
The classic Royal Oak is the core integrated-bracelet family; Royal Oak Concept uses more experimental architecture, materials, and movement displays.
More from Audemars Piguet
- Royal Oak
— Designed by Gérald Genta in 1972, the Royal Oak introduced luxury watchmaking in steel with an octagonal bezel and integrated bracelet. It revolutionised the industry and remains the definitive AP piece. - Royal Oak Offshore
— Royal Oak Offshore is Audemars Piguet's oversized, high-contrast sport watch family, launched in 1993 and built to push the Royal Oak idea into louder materials, stronger presence, and more extroverted chronograph and complication territory. - Millenary
— An oval-case collection with an off-centred dial and skeletonised movement. The Millenary represents AP's haute horlogerie ambitions in a non-Royal Oak format. - Code 11.59
— Launched in 2019, AP's contemporary round dress-sport hybrid. Complex double-curved sapphire crystals and an intricate multi-layer case construction distinguish it from everything else in the AP line.