Audemars Piguet’s White and Blue Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon Openworked for Only Watch 2023

While the Jumbo was the main event, last year’s Royal Oak anniversary celebrations also included the original version of this bad boy, the Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Openworked. Now, for Only Watch 2023, Audemars Piguet has brought it back in a colourway that lives up to the annual auction’s colourful theme.

The theme of the not-quite-competition this year is the encapsulation of all previous editions’ colours, and Audemars Piguet have apparently earmarked blue. Not your typical, darker colour combo though, but the phenomenal, somewhat nautical combination of white and a blue that’s best described as azure.

The 41mm case of the Royal Oak Self-winding Flying Tourbillon Openworked is made from ultra hard, scratch resistant white ceramic, already a bold choice. But even bolder is the movement, which has been given a vibrant blue overhaul, showing off its inner workings in dazzling style. Paired with a matching blue inner bezel and white gold indexes and hands, the result is eye-catching in the extreme.

Defining all that architecture is the calibre 2972, an immaculately finished automatic number with an impressive 65 hour power reserve. It’s the same as in the previous 2022 model, which is to be expected given that it’s still a shiny new movement for Audemars Piguet.

With an estimate of CHF 300,000 – 350,000 (around what you can expect to pay for the 2022 version now), this is one Only Watch lot to keep your eye on. The difficulty will be taking your eyes off it.