So, these AP watches then.....

[jshell]

fk me, there're more limited editions than there are Speedmasters!! And the prices, Barrichelo model for £25k+ 2nd hand...

Never looked at these before, but are they worthy?? Or overpriced fashion watches?

[Asterix]

All look the same to me - ste

[threesixty]

jshell said:

fk me, there're more limited editions than there are Speedmasters!! And the prices, Barrichelo model for £25k+ 2nd hand...

Never looked at these before, but are they worthy?? Or overpriced fashion watches?

I think that pedigree is up there withe the best of them. They make all their own movements too(i think!) While the styling may not be to all tastes the quality of the ones i've come into contact with does seem top notch.

I quite fancy the most basic royal oak, but even that comes in at 8grand

[Animal]

[quote=threesixtyThey make all their own movements too(i think!)
[/quote]

Think they use some Jaeger base movements...

They all used to be pretty, but now they've gone a bit 'Timberlake'. Such a shame.

[cyberface]

threesixty said:

jshell said:

fk me, there're more limited editions than there are Speedmasters!! And the prices, Barrichelo model for £25k+ 2nd hand...

Never looked at these before, but are they worthy?? Or overpriced fashion watches?

I think that pedigree is up there withe the best of them. They make all their own movements too(i think!) While the styling may not be to all tastes the quality of the ones i've come into contact with does seem top notch.

I quite fancy the most basic royal oak, but even that comes in at 8grand

I think the basic Royal Oak is the one to have. I tried one out and it is incredibly finely made, and with the display back you get to see a *very* nicely finished movement.

The 'Offshore' versions just seem to pander to rap 'artist' bling and are faked to hell.

They have rather become a caricature of themselves because of the ROO and I can't think of any other watches AP make... and I'm sure they must have a range of other styles They like tourbillons though, and so do I, and it's purely because of the ROO that I don't *really like* AP. Oh well.

[11SJC]

great watches have just started to really like them

[11SJC]

[Trommel]

11SJC said:

You'd have to really like basketball (or be one EuroMillions ticket away from the council house) to spend so much on one of those.

[Dominic H]

Trommel said:

11SJC said:

You'd have to really like basketball (or be one EuroMillions ticket away from the council house) to spend so much on one of those.

Also helps if you're 7'1" and build like a brick-sthouse, at a 48mm diameter this thing is a monster..

For NBA stars and derivatives traders the world over!

[fergus]

Dominic H said:

For NBA stars and derivatives traders the world over!

Most traders I work with either have the ubiquitous Rolex sub/daytona, or have a patek or something with more cache....

Monster bits of kit though. Like the JLC Master comp extreme, but more metal!

[Dominic H]

fergus said:

Dominic H said:

For NBA stars and derivatives traders the world over!

Most traders I work with either have the ubiquitous Rolex sub/daytona, or have a patek or something with more cache....

Monster bits of kit though. Like the JLC Master comp extreme, but more metal!

"Blue horseshoe loves Anacot steel"

And Tullett Prebon loves an AP....maybe.

Edited by Dominic H on Thursday 12th November 20:15

[cyberface]

fergus said:

Dominic H said:

For NBA stars and derivatives traders the world over!

Most traders I work with either have the ubiquitous Rolex sub/daytona, or have a patek or something with more cache....

Monster bits of kit though. Like the JLC Master comp extreme, but more metal!

You've got to laugh when watches like the Daytona and even the Sub are dismissed as 'run of the mill' and lacking in imagination

I suppose it depends on the derivative but the FX boys I know are a lot more blingy - Franck Muller was the thing to own last year (the muppets wearing the 'Master Banker' models have presumably chopped those in for something less inflammatory since the 'second great depression').

[Spice_Weasel]

Panerai seem to be big in the city too (pun intended). In fact, in the upcoming Wall St sequel, Shia Le Bouf's character sports a Panerai Marina

It's funny how certain watches tend to pop up time and time again in certain work circles. I work in IT Sales and loads of the guys have Omega SMPs (me included), Rolexes (either Sub or GMT - me again!) with a healthy smattering of IWC, JLC, TAG Monacos, Panerai and the odd Oris.

[tertius]

I can't get over the stupid allen bolts with the slots in.

As an aside anyone know why they call the Royal Oak the Royal Oak? Is there a link with the battleship torpedoed in Scapa Flow?

[okgo]

I quite like the look of them as far as large in your face watches go. But they are very expensive, so for now I think I will stop thinking about them.. Part of me still wants a Crazy Colour Dream Muller

[Trommel]

tertius said:

As an aside anyone know why they call the Royal Oak the Royal Oak? Is there a link with the battleship torpedoed in Scapa Flow?

It's supposedly named after the Victorian warship of the same name with the octagonal portholes.

[cyberface]

tertius said:

I can't get over the stupid allen bolts with the slots in.

As an aside anyone know why they call the Royal Oak the Royal Oak? Is there a link with the battleship torpedoed in Scapa Flow?

I thought the allen bolts were part of the design - that nobody else had done before? The bolts go through from the front to the back of the watch and hold everything together, like the long bolts on the K series engine. I haven't heard of many Royal Oaks suffering from head gasket failure though

Gerald Genta designed the thing IIRC - he seems to crop up regularly when 'iconic design' is mentioned, but I can't think of an *attractive* design from him. They are all distinctive all right, but 'pretty' they are not. I don't like Patek's Nautilus, the Royal Oak doesn't spin my wheel, I think the IWC Ingenieur looks 'slab-sided' (it isn't, but it's a phrase that always comes to mind for some reason), and his own stuff on his website just looks shockingly *over-designed*.

At least the allen bolts on the AP are slotted in proper order... the random angle of the slots on the Hublot Big Bang would drive me insane within an hour of putting it on No idea regarding why it's called Royal Oak without rolling the search engines out, I simply don't know. May be something to do with Genta though?

[tertius]

cyberface said:

tertius said:

I can't get over the stupid allen bolts with the slots in.

As an aside anyone know why they call the Royal Oak the Royal Oak? Is there a link with the battleship torpedoed in Scapa Flow?

I thought the allen bolts were part of the design - that nobody else had done before? The bolts go through from the front to the back of the watch and hold everything together, like the long bolts on the K series engine. I haven't heard of many Royal Oaks suffering from head gasket failure though

Gerald Genta designed the thing IIRC - he seems to crop up regularly when 'iconic design' is mentioned, but I can't think of an *attractive* design from him. They are all distinctive all right, but 'pretty' they are not. I don't like Patek's Nautilus, the Royal Oak doesn't spin my wheel, I think the IWC Ingenieur looks 'slab-sided' (it isn't, but it's a phrase that always comes to mind for some reason), and his own stuff on his website just looks shockingly *over-designed*.

At least the allen bolts on the AP are slotted in proper order... the random angle of the slots on the Hublot Big Bang would drive me insane within an hour of putting it on No idea regarding why it's called Royal Oak without rolling the search engines out, I simply don't know. May be something to do with Genta though?

I agree they are part of the design, but as you can see from this pic, the hex bolt heads are set into hexagonal holes so they can't turn - so what is the purpose of the slot?



Edited to add: I did a quick Google on the name - no link at all as far as I can tell, there is possibly some link to the porthole shape of the Prince Consort class line of battle ship HMS Royal Oak but apart from some comments to this effect on AP sites I can't find any supporting evidence.

Edited by tertius on Thursday 12th November 22:37

[Trommel]

tertius said:

so what is the purpose of the slot?

To look pretty (although they are actually screws).

[cyberface]

Trommel said:

tertius said:

so what is the purpose of the slot?

To look pretty (although they are actually screws).

Genta seems to like these functionless items hinting at a function they don't have. The Ingy has holes in the bezel that instinctively suggest the bezel is screwed down using them (like the holes in the casebacks of other IWC models, like my Aquatimer which has holes rather than flats or a Rolex-type screw socket). But I bet the Ingy doesn't have a screw-down bezel - what would be the point???

(awaits finding out that the Ingy's special feature is a screw-down bezel that compresses both sides of the watch... )

Actually this 'compression from both sides' concept seems to be a recurring feature, no? The Royal Oak actually *does* compress from both sides, using the through-the-case bolts. The Ingy appears to have a screw down bezel as well as a screw down caseback. Design language, perhaps?