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Audemars Piguet honors its heritage with blue ceramic Royal Oak models

The watchmaker's iconic '72 blue shade comes to life

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Audemars Piguet new ceramic shade
Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet, a Swiss watch manufacturer, presented three new watches. These watches used a ceramic form of its well-known “Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50” color. This color is a deep blue shade, visible on the first Royal Oak dial in 1972.

This specific shade came from the night sky over the Vallée de Joux – the place the firm had its base for 150 years. After technical growth that spanned several years, staff put the color on ceramic cases and parts. This happened in both the Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore groups.

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“The sky of the Vallée de Joux has played a key role in the history of Audemars Piguet, inspiring the colour ‘Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50,’ which is now one of the brand’s signature elements,” explains Ilaria Resta, Chief Executive Officer of Audemars Piguet. “The launch of this new ceramic is a tribute to both the region and its talents, and our relentless quest for innovation.”

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In this new series, the main model is the 41mm Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked. It is made completely of the blue ceramic. This single-color approach made a backdrop for the rhodium-toned open-worked movement. To complete the image, staff added pink gold details. The watch included Audemars Piguet’s double balance wheel system, a tool that increases precision. To achieve this the system used two balance wheels besides hairsprings on the same axis.

But a 42mm Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph also joined the set. It came in a single-color blue ceramic design but stainless steel bezel screws and titanium parts complemented it. This sporty model showed a new ceramic bracelet design, with built-in pins linking the studs to the links. Calibre 4404 gave it power and offered a flyback chronograph working order.

The last model is a two-tone 43mm Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph – it mixed stainless steel with blue ceramic traits on the bezel, pushers along crown. This version had a matching blue calfskin strap and one more blue rubber option, using the series’ interchangeability system.

With its “Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50” ceramic, challenges arose. Thibaut Le Loarer, Head of Research at Audemars Piguet, said that making a single shade on every component needed a lot of work. Each ceramic part went through stages, like machining, sintering along with finishing by hand. The aim was to meet the firm’s alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces.

The new releases expanded Audemars Piguet’s ceramic color options, which included black, electric blue, and green along with brown shades. It honored the distinct blue connected with the Royal Oak from its start.

Andrew McGrotty
Andrew McGrotty
Andrew is a full-time freelance writer with expertise in the luxury sector. His content is informative and always on trend.
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