For us (and likely for many others), the Royal Oak is the most iconic model from Audemars Piguet, and the reasons for this are countless. Beginning its journey in the 70s, thanks to the deft touch of Gérald Genta, this series has undergone numerous iterations, but a few things have never changed – the octagonal case, the “waffle” dial, the design of the lugs, etc.
In 2005, the brand decided to respond to the modern trend for oversized cases and launched the new series of 42-millimeter chronographs, which also received what became cult nicknames – Panda, Safari, Navy, Silver Themes, and Black Themes.
In 2014, AP launched a new, more modern series of 42s, with ceramic pushers and a transparent case back, and then the manufacturer unleashed its imagination for the variations and, in addition to the new versions of the ones listed above, the “Elephant”, “Havana”, “Vampire”, “Blue” appeared… The expectations of all the brand's admirers were increasing, and the manufacturer tried to provide a wide variety of variations.
As most of you probably know, in the first versions of its Offshore chronographs, AP used the caliber 2226/2840 up to and including 2007, when this cult movement was replaced by the new in-house 3126/3840 – a modular chronograph based on the 3120 with a Dubois Depraz chronograph module – operating at the usual AP frequency of 21,600 vibrations, with 365 parts, 59 jewels, over 50 hours of power reserve, and to emphasize the noble origin of the movement, the balance is crafted from 22-karat gold. The difference between the Offshore Chronograph with the old movement can be traced in the change of the reference number – for the new ones, it becomes 26170ST, and the other main difference is that the new versions now also have an anti-reflective coating on the date magnifier.
