Audemars Piguet

Royal Oak Offshore Watches

The Royal Oak Offshore collection was introduced in 1993 as the celebration of the 20th anniversary of its original model. After two decades of its flagship model, Royal Oak released, the brand decided to develop some new releases to keep and even expand its shares in the marketplace. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore was released to target younger audiences. This successor of Royal Oak takes the same octagonal bezel but with a border and sportier look that offers higher water resistance. Most of its models are equipped with rubber straps. 

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore is a watch aimed to evolve. Throughout the years, many updates and changes have taken place for the collection. Years after its release, the AP Royal Oak Offshore is a unique sports watch of the brand that holds an unexpected position in the Audemars Piguet catalogue. 

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was born with an aim to break through the famous “quartz crisis” the company was facing in the 1970s. The bold attempt turned out to be a great success and it even brought the brand to an unexpectedly top position within the industry. 20 years after this legendary timepiece was released, the company again was facing difficulties in business growth. To expand its target audiences, this time the brand came up with a new sports watch, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, for the younger generation. This has been later proven to be another AP watch that left its story in watchmaking history.

To fully address the needs of the young audiences, the young in-house designer Emmanuel Gueit was assigned this important mission for the revolutionary change of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Emmanual Gueit decided to build a masculine luxury watch that will swoop everyone off their feet. The new AP watch was meant to be an Audemars Piguet men's watch exclusively. 

This led to the birth of the AP Royal Oak Offshore watch. The watch was in a thick yet well-proportioned profile. This new Royal Oak Offshore watch was originally scheduled to be introduced in 1992 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Royal Oak. However, the introduction of the watch was postponed to the next year 1993. Since thin and slim watches were in fashion at that time, the uncertainty of a thick watch and its last-minute refinements had resulted in the delayed-release. 

At the time when it was first released, the name Offshore was not displayed on the new watch. Carrying the popularity of the AP Royal Oak, the first models of this new AP sports watch only carried the name Royal Oak on their case back. Later when the watch stabilised in the market, these Audemars Piguet sports watches started to come with an engraved “Royal Oak Offshore” on the case back. 

Initially, just like the original Royal Oak, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore did not receive positive responses from the market. It was considered a disastrous attempt that was unnecessarily overly enlarged to the size of a walrus. 

Fortunately, as a place that embraces large watches, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore watch received an overwhelming welcome from Italy. Bit by bit the world started to recognize the charm of this bold watch and the market has finally accepted the watch followed with an increase of sales. 

The first reference of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore watch was model 25721ST  which is nicknamed "The Beast" by the watch enthusiasts. The reference of this Royal Oak Offshore watch began with the D-series. The number of the first 25721ST watches introduced in 1993 was D23744 and one of the last references, which was released in 1998, was number D97184. 

To this day, this Royal Oak Offshore collection offers over forty different models including a faithful re-edition of the original chronograph of 1993, as well as more complicated versions that feature advanced complications and avant-garde materials.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore D series 

As a huge sports watch, the case of the D-series is very thick with a height of 16mm. The movement of this Royal Oak Offshore was modified from a Jaeger-LeCoultre 888 calibre to a chronograph module which turned the watch as a AP chronograph watch. Featuring a robust stainless steel case with a cut-edging design and a specially made rubber strap, the AP Royal Oak Offshore watch is considered to be ahead of its time. 

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore E & F series

After 1998, the brand introduced the E and the F series for the Royal Oak Offshore family. The difference between the early ones and these Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore models is not obvious on the look. The most prominent difference is the name engraved on the case back of the first 100 dials. These watches were engraved “Royal Oak Offshore” instead of only “Royal Oak”.

Also, the dial has also slightly changed and the bracelet and the links between have kept updated over the past years. The clasp of the initial AP Offshore watches was simpler than the ones updated later on. The D-series featured four screws with two on each side, yet the E-series of the watch has got a decrease in the screws into two with only one screw on each side.

In the year 2018, the brand introduced another new model for the Royal Oak Offshore collection with the reference 26237ST. There are some minor changes on the design to make it still look fresh and up-to-fashion. The incorporation of a stainless steel belt and more premium models provided new choices for the AP watch lovers.

If you are looking for a bold and rugged sports watch to turn everyone’s head, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore will make a perfect match for you.