How about another special AP Royal Oak Chronograph?

Our AP forum has been very actively lately with all the special Royal Oak chronographs. I'd like to share a few pictures from my archives of a relatively rare piece, the Royal Oak Chronograph Dubail Limited Edition.

I was inspired by posting these pics from posts like the white gold Royal Oak Chronograph by our AP Moderator MichaelC: Please click here

And the rare prototype F1 Indianapolis 2000 by Koen S.: Please click here

And 'just because' by our esteemed PuristS Dr. Mao with the unique piece prototype Royal Oak Chronograph City of Sails. I still remember seeing this in person way back in 2008 during the PuristS-On-Tour visiting Piaget and Audemars Piguet in Switzerland. Please click here

Actually it was after the PuristS-On-Tour trip that I ventured over to the beautiful city of Paris, France for several days. We wandered around Paris and visited all the watch boutiques with several PuristS Moderators. At Place Vendome we were warmly welcomed by the staff at Dubail and they presented us this special Royal Oak Chronograph. It was produced in a limited edition of 50 pieces and back then there were only 2 available.

At first glance, it resembled a typical Royal Oak Chronograph. The bezel is made in platinum. Both the bezel and case has alternating brushed and polished surfaces. As MichaelC has mentioned in previous posts, unique details on the previous precious metal versions have square hour markers instead of the standard stick markers. I love the 'AP' logo at the 12 o'clock position. The subdials are very similar to the white gold version, and has red chronograph hands that matches well with the main sweep seconds hands. The dial is dark gray with the mega tapisserie pattern, and the subdials are black which make it easily readable with the contrasting red hands. The Dubail edition is paired with a black leather strap with matching red stitching and a stainless steel deployant buckle.

The other really interesting detail is viewed from the transparent caseback. The rotor is blacked PVD with the Dubail logo engraved on it. IMO it's a really cool feature and very unique. The movement is the Audemars Piguet caliber 2385 self-winding chronograph movement. The 2385 is 5.5mm thin and has a diameter of 26.20mm. It fits nicely in the Royal Oak case. Power reserve is rated at 40 hours. It has a screw down crown for manual winding and setting the time. There's also a rapid date set feature activated by the crown. Like other Royal Oak chronographs the pushers are also have screw down protectors for water resistance.
Besides the limited edition of 50 pieces, there were 5 pieces made that was covered in precious stones.

After our visit to Dubail, we also stopped by Chronopassion, which had another really cool special edition made for their store. It wasn't a Royal Oak Chronograph, but a Royal Oak Offshore model that was made in titanium with a sandblasted finish. The Chronopassion model had a special dark grey dial and looked great. More fun things to see there was a Royal Oak Offshore titanium bracelet. No watch just all bracelet links an the clasp which was really cool to see. I'll look for pics of these Offshores and will post in a separate thread.

Hope you enjoyed the pics.
Regards,
ED-209
This message has been edited by ED209 on 2015-02-13 17:27:11

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Wow nice watch!

By: emijar3 : February 12th, 2015-21:25

Is it the only Royal Oak Chronograph with display case back? It looks really nice... Thanks ED!

Thanks, and the transparent caseback

By: ED209 : February 13th, 2015-17:30

Thanks emijar3. I'm not sure if it's the only ROC with a display case back. I wish more AP's had this. The rotor looks really nice with the black PVD. Regards, ED-209

I wish too!!

By: emijar3 : February 20th, 2015-22:18

I think the next step for AP is making a ROC with in house movement and displays case back... I think that would be a killer watch! (Rose gold, leather strap, in house movement =D ) Best Ed!

Yes, this is one I saw several times at the Dubail shop.

By: amanico : February 12th, 2015-22:58

Wow, it has been a long time! Thanks for the nice article, Ed. Nicolas.

Can you believe this

By: ED209 : February 13th, 2015-17:31

Thanks Nicolas. It brings back very fond memories of our visit to Paris, and of course the awesome time that we first met you! :) Regards, ED-209

Yes, time flies... Time for another time. ;) [nt]

By: amanico : February 14th, 2015-02:24

What a great piece!! Love all the details you point out! Especially the ....

By: Ancienne Le Brassus : February 13th, 2015-00:16

square hour markers on a white metal!! Love this!!! So cool and thanks for sharing with us! HAGWE, S

Thanks ALB! [nt]

By: ED209 : February 13th, 2015-17:32

Excellent work Ed. This Dubail edition remains very rare and unique.

By: MichaelC : February 13th, 2015-10:32

The open caseback, blackened rotor and platinum... wow. Thank you for the wonderful refresher on this Royal Oak Chronograph.

Unique with the blackened rotor

By: ED209 : February 13th, 2015-17:35

Thanks MichaelC, I was inspired by the cool posts recently. Regards, ED-209

Metal details

By: Koen S. : February 13th, 2015-10:50

Thanks ED209 for your post, very nice piece. I believe it was a stainless steel case with Platinum lunette and the 5 piece full pavé edition was white gold. Lets see if more special ROC come up! Thanks

Yes you're right

By: ED209 : February 13th, 2015-17:28

Thanks Koen S for the information. Your special AP ROC inspired me to post these pics! :) Do you have any other favorite LE's? Regards, ED-209

Tell me what is special about this one?

By: Koen S. : February 14th, 2015-02:23

A picture from my Audemars Piguet archive. Some people don't see it and others didn't knew about it. More specials coming soon! ...

I have not seen this photo before.

By: MichaelC : February 14th, 2015-08:43

Most obvious is the curious placement of the date. Looks like we are missing some lume on the 3/6/9 markers, and I cannot tell if the normal AP logo at 12 is in place. What more do you know about this model Koen? Were any produced like this? I have always...

Does this AP ROC really exist?

By: ED209 : February 15th, 2015-23:38

Hi Koen S. I've been searching for this particular ROC for a long time and thought it wasn't real. Back in 1998 when I first started looking at AP watches, I saw a similar ROC in a magazine somewhere (don't remember exactly which magazine). The most impor...

I always thought the rotor...

By: DRMW : February 14th, 2015-10:42

I always thought that the rotor was interesting when I saw it in Paris. Thanks for the memories ED-209! -MW

Definitely a unique touch with the blackened PVD rotor

By: ED209 : February 15th, 2015-23:39

Fun times in Paris, we need to do another PuristS trip :) Regards, ED-209

That is, the best....

By: S.D.Quella : February 16th, 2015-12:14

...looking ROC SE I know of. It reminds me a bit of the VC H Dubail. Sam.

Very similar color variation

By: ED209 : February 16th, 2015-21:18

Thanks Sam for sharing your thoughts. You're right, it does look a bit like the VC chrono Historique Dubail edition. Similar color hands in a precious metal. If you had a choice between the AP and VC Dubail editions, which one would you choose? Regards, E...

Impossible choice?

By: S.D.Quella : February 17th, 2015-09:17

Well, that is to me a hard question to answer. I am among the few here that cannot stand the idea of having watches in the closet. I need to have them on my wrist. Therefore, I am not a collector. And, I always need a classy blue one... So, this in mind: ...

Thanks for the report.

By: M4 : February 16th, 2015-13:48

Another special ROC and one I'd love to own someday. Great summary. M4

Thanks M4!

By: ED209 : February 16th, 2015-21:20

Thanks for checking out the post. Definitely would be cool to own especially with the blackened PVD rotor. Regards, ED-209