Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept “Spider-Man” Tourbillon Replica Watches
Swiss high-end watchmaker replica Audemars Piguet has unveiled a second collaborative edition celebrating its partnership with Marvel. In this regard, a grand global launch event was held in Dubai on May 25th. Time Forum was present at this event attended by a small number of media and VIPs invited from all over the world. And the much-talked-about new Royal Oak Concept “Spider-Man” Tourbillon has been unveiled. Let’s enjoy it together from now on.
After the successful Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon, which debuted in 2021, Audemars Piguet’s second superhero choice for Marvel is none other than Spider-Man. He is one of Marvel’s most energetic characters who has been active as a hero since his teens and is one of the most popular and widely loved iconic superheroes. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of his birth last year, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, an animated film starring Miles Morales, the second-generation Spider-Man succeeding Peter Parker, is about to be released in June. At this point, more attention is being paid to the second collaboration edition between Audemars Piguet and Marvel.
Audemars Piguet, who reinterprets Marvel’s characters in three dimensions every time, made a very meticulous effort to include Spider-Man in one replica watches, following Black Panther. Not only does it realistically embody the character of Spider-Man on the dial, but it also introduces a new exclusive caliber custom-developed from the ground up just for that edition, making the kitschy design arouse praise for being different through the touch of Audemars Piguet.
The diameter of the case is 42mm and the thickness is 15mm, and the size is not much different from the previous Black Panther Edition. The iconic octagonal bezel is secured with eight hexagonal screws in a lightweight titanium alloy case with a satin brushed and partially microblasted finish, which uses black ceramic to prevent scratches while adding a unique engineering appeal. Black ceramic is also used for the screw-down crown, and transparent sapphire crystal is used on the front and back of the case, so you can enjoy the dial and unique movement that vividly depicts the Spider-Man character that seems to have jumped out of Marvel Comics.
Above the entire openworked movement, the figure of Spider-Man is implemented in a very three-dimensional way with a 3D effect. The Royal Oak concept “Spider-Man” tourbillon comes in two versions. The version with the familiar red and blue two-tone color suit is a limited edition of 250 pieces, and the other is a unique piece with an all-black suit. In particular, Black Spider-Man is said to have directly referenced the costume introduced in issue 252 of The Amazing Spider-Man published in 1984.
The Black Spider-Man version, a unique piece produced only one piece, has a case made of luxurious white gold material, not titanium, and both rugs and profiles are decorated with detailed engraving and marquetry inspired by the Black Spider-Man suit and signature spider web. and coated with white Super-LumiNova, it boasts a strong presence day or night. In addition, Super-LumiNova was applied to the two intense eyes of the Spider-Man character on the dial and to each index and hands finished with black hand-painted gold material. A noticeable difference is that the unique piece, the Black Spider-Man version, uses Super-LumiNova, which emits a vivid green color in the dark, and the limited edition original Spider-Man version, which emits a blue color in the dark.
The texture of the Spider-Man costume is expressed with a high-frequency laser on a piece of white gold that is elaborately cut using a CNC machine to bring out the silhouette and volume of the Spider-Man character, and a dedicated engraver carefully engraves the spider web details on the upper body. do. Afterwards, the painter hand-painted the character’s iconic matte red and metallic blue colors to give Spider-Man perspective by using overall shading and contrast. It takes about two full days (about 50 hours) to make just one miniature of the Spider-Man character, so you can even feel the Métiers d’art (art of craft). For reference, the brand officials added that the production time was more meticulous enough to almost double the production time compared to the previous Black Panther version.
The new, fully open-worked, in-house manual tourbillon caliber 2974 consists of a total of 197 parts and 19 jewels in a 32.25 mm diameter (14 ¼ ligne), 5.82 mm thick movement. It vibrates 21,600 times per hour and despite the single barrel structure, the power reserve is guaranteed for about 3 days (72 hours). Technically, the 2974 is not completely new, as it is based on the existing in-house manual tourbillon caliber 2948, which debuted in 2019 as the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Tourbillon Openworked.
If you look closely, you can see the level of finishing worthy of a high-end movement. can. Under a large arched openwork bridge that reveals geometric beauty, the tourbillon cage that rotates once per minute is exposed, revealing the main wheels of the gear train as well as parts that are usually hidden such as the crown stem and crown wheel/pinion, revealing the theme of the Spider-Man character. I tried my best as much as possible even within the limited size of the dial. Regarding this, Anne-Gaëlle Quinet, who worked for Breguet and Patek Philippe and became Head of Complications at Audemars Piguet at the end of last year, played a pivotal role in developing the new movement.
The strap is equipped with a folding buckle made of the same titanium material as the case body along with a black and gray rubber strap, making it easy to attach and detach. In addition, black and red color rubber straps that match Spider-Man’s iconic suit are additionally provided, and the first interchangeable strap system in the Royal Oak concept case is applied, so you can easily replace the strap and buckle. there is.
As you can see in the photo above, the Royal Oak Concept “Spider-Man” tourbillon has two pieces: one unique piece (Ref. 26632CN.OO.D100CA.01) and a limited edition of 250 pieces (Ref. 26631IO.OO.D002CA.01). Divided by version. Among them, the unique piece met its new owner through an open live auction on the evening of May 25 (Dubai local time) when the world premiere launch event was held. The unique piece was sold at a whopping 6.2 million USD in USD and about 8.2 billion KRW in Korean currency, without the buyer’s premium, which is an additional fee. In addition, Audemars Piguet successfully raised a total of 8.5 million dollars (USD), or about 11.2 billion won in Korean currency, by putting up the first edition of Marvel Comics’ original Spider-Man as well as other additional auction items. This surpasses the public auction result from the previous Black Panther launch event and is Audemars Piguet’s highest single auction record.
All proceeds from the auction for this launch, including the Royal Oak Concept “Spider-Man” tourbillon unique piece, will go to Time for Change: Dream, Act, Change the World, an initiative designed to advance equity in education sponsored by the Audemars Piguet Foundation. (Time For Change: Dream, Act, Change Our World)’ will be donated to First Book and Ashoka, non-profit charities that support various educational programs for children and youth from low-income families around the world. no see. The fact that a timepiece that celebrates the partnership with Marvel is fueling philanthropic efforts for children who dream of becoming superheroes in a new era is self-evident.
Regarding this, François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet, said, “For this second collaboration with Marvel, we pay tribute to Spider-Man, one of the most popular superheroes in the Marvel universe. “Spider-Man knows that with great power comes great responsibility, and in commemoration of this event, First Book and Ashoka’s work to empower young people, our real-life heroes, to become agents of change.” We are delighted to reaffirm Audemars Piguet’s commitment to the world.”
For reference, the first Marvel collaboration edition in 2021, the Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon Unique Piece, was also auctioned, distributing 50,000 related books through First Book, building a human network of 25,000 educators, and It is said that the fund was returned to a project that supports approximately 750,000 students aged 5 to 18 across the United States. As such, as part of a long-term collaboration rather than a one-off event, he announced that he would continue to auction several other entries in the future and donate all proceeds to First Book and Ashoka. The limited edition, which is limited to a total of 250 pieces, can only be found at designated Audemars Piguet boutiques worldwide, and the retail price is undecided. There are also plans to launch in Korea, so if you are interested, please inquire at Audemars Piguet Boutique Seoul Shinsegae Gangnam Boutique (Tel. 02-533-1351), which officially opened on the 3rd floor of the new building of Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam Branch on May 12th.