Audemars Piguet Reveal 30th Anniversary Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph Inspired by “End of Days” Ref. 25770SN

To celebrate 30 years of the Royal Oak Offshore, Audemars Piguet has launched a new Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph. Despite the anniversary, AP has decided to pay tribute to the Le Brassus brand’s first special edition watch, the Royal Oak Offshore “End of Days” Ref. 25770SN, which was released in 1999 in collaboration with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The original watch marked a turning point in the overall love for the “ROO,” propelling it to new levels of fame and acceptance within the watch-collecting world.

The new Ref. 26420CE is incredibly similar to the original 1999 release with its stealthy black aesthetic and yellow detail. The 43mm x 14.4mm case is in line with the most recent generation of Offshore models and measures 1mm larger in diameter than the original ‘Beast’ and slightly thicker by 0.36mm. In contrast to the steel DLC case of the original, the latest iteration is fired from black ceramic and includes more titanium details and chunkier two-tiered chronograph pushers. As you would expect considering the materials used, it is extremely lightweight despite its size and weighs just 103 grams.

On the dial is a Méga Tapisserie motif, and instead of the Arabic numerals used on the original, we have yellow baton markers which match the hour and minute hands. The un-magnified date window has also been moved from 3 o’clock to between 4 and 5, resulting in a sub-dial redesign.

Inside it’s powered by the manufacture’s latest self-winding chronograph movement, the Calibre 4401, which features a column-wheel clutch flyback function and has a 70 hours power reserve. It also comes on a black calfskin strap with a textile effect and yellow stitching, which can be easily changed for a reversed yellow calfskin version with black stitching.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph Ref. 26420CE will be limited to 500 pieces and is price on request.