Audemars Piguet Chronographe Royal Oak Tour Auto 2012 Sports Details a Century in the Making
Posted in articles&news on May 18th, 2012 No Comments »
Audemars Piguet Chronographe Royal Oak Tour Auto 2012 watch sports historic car racing details a century in the making. Audemars Piguet is no stranger to watch design or its historical significance.
Audemars Piguet has been both an official sponsor and “official timekeeper” of the annual French Tour Auto Optic 2000 car race for the past six years. To commemorate this auspicious car race this year Audemars Piguet has designed a sporty Chronographe Royal Oak Tour Auto 2012 limited edition watch which has captured the spirit of the century old Tour de France sports car race sporting the French national colors of blue, white and red.
Audemars Piguet’s first special edition of the Chronograph Royal Oak Tour Auto 2009 limited model had a titanium bezel. This year’s model features an impressive stainless steel body with Audemars Piguets’ signature octagonal bezel and blue crocodile leather hand-sewn strap with high-contrast red stitching which complements the colors of the watch’s dial.
Audemars Piguet Chronographe Royal Oak Tour Auto 2012 features a bold stainless steel case with a scratch resistant black ceramic bezel. It sports a signature “Méga Tapisserie” motif dial, with two blue sub-dials: 30 minutes counter located at 9 o’clock and 12 hours counter located at 6 o’clock. The seconds sub-dial at 12 o’clock is white. The dial design displays blue Arabic numerals with luminescent coating and white gold Royal Oak hands filled with red luminescent coating. It also features the same rubber-clad chronograph push-pieces and setting crown. The inside white bezel ring displays an inscribed tachymeter scale. Located at 3 o’clock is a round date aperture.
Chronographe Royal Oak Tour Auto 2012 is powered by an in-house Calibre 3126/3840 self-winding movement which has an impressive power reserve of up to 60 hours, with frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour.
The caseback bears the Tour Auto logo inscription, the Royal Oak Offshore logo and the “Edition limitée” inscription. The watch has a sapphire-crystal coating and it is water-resistant up to 100 meters (330 feet). Each Chronographe Royal Oak Offshore Tour Auto 2012 comes in a specially created presentation box and it is a limited edition of 150 pieces.
Audemars Piguet Chronographe Royal Oak Offshore Tour Auto 2012 Limited Edition (Ref. 26208ST.00.D305CR.01) watch features and technical attributes:
o Case is 42 mm diameter Stainless Steel octagonal case and bezel with octagonal black ceramic bezel
o Dial is light grey, bearing the Mega Tapisserie motif, Arabic luminous numeral
o Movement is automatic Caliber AP 3126/3840, 29.92 x 7.16 mm, 365 components in-house and Swiss Made
o Movement frequency is 21,600 vibration per hour 59 jewel with power reserve of 60 hours
o Functions include hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph with white gold hand with red luminous coating
o Water resistant up to 100 meters
o Crystal is sapphire
o Caseback is inscribed with the Tour Auto logo
o Wrist Strap is hand-sewn “Hornback” crocodile leather strap with red stitching and a stainless steel AP folding clasp. Comes with a replacement blue rubber strap
Audemars Piguet Chronographe Royal Oak Tour Auto 2012 does sport Tour de France racing style and spirit, and as such is sure to race off the retail sales display cases being a limited edition of 150 pieces. Placing the pedal to the metal is not a bad idea to make this watch yours.
