Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon "COMPANION"

[molexra]

Introducing the Audemars Piguet x Kaws Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Companion' Twenty

Audemars Piguet has a history of incorporating pop culture concepts into its ultra-high-end Royal Oak Concept platform. Perhaps most famously (or infamously) over the past few years, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, as well as the King of Wakanda, have appeared on the dials of Concept Tourbillons, all in partnership with Marvel. This time around, Audemars Piguet has teamed up with Brooklyn-based artist Kaws to create a fresh interpretation of the Concept Tourbillon with the artist's iconic character designs.

Kaws, whose real name is Brian Donnelly, rose to fame in the late 1990s with his graffiti interventions in New York City, eventually making a name for himself in the contemporary pop art world with toy creations inspired by his street art aesthetic.

Most notable is Kaws' Companion character, a skull and crossbones image modeled after a famous rubber hose cartoon mouse, which you've no doubt seen in many forms – from vinyl toys to numerous apparel collaborations with brands like Nike and Uniqlo, to name a few.

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Now, Audemars Piguet has incorporated the Companion character into the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon, featuring the iconic skull, gloves, and, of course, X-shaped eyes. In this version, the Companion appears to be peering out from behind a sapphire crystal, with the Companion's gloves and face sculpted to make the character appear to be clinging to the glass. Made entirely of brushed and sandblasted titanium, the character sits atop a sunburst brushed titanium dial, with the tourbillon cage itself visible from its chest. The skull's X-shaped eyes are painted grey.

Unlike other character-oriented concept tourbillons we've seen, this time the character at the center of the dial is not obscured by the hour and minute hands. For this version, Audemars Piguet has introduced a new peripheral time display featuring titanium hour and minute hands set on roller-guided gears. The inner titanium bezel has five-minute markings, and both the markers and hands are luminescent.

Driving the new outer bezel time display is the new manual-winding Calibre 2979, which features a 60-second tourbillon and a frequency of 3Hz. The movement bridges are treated with black PVD as another nod to the artist, and the movement ratchets are skeletonized with another Kaws X motif. The Audemars Piguet logo and other text are laser-engraved and painted white for contrast.

Although similar in appearance, the case of this concept tourbillon is slightly larger than the 42mm Spider-Man and Black Panther concept tourbillons, at 43mm. Like the other 43mm Royal Oak Concept models, this case also has some angular inserts added to add more contrast to the already faceted titanium case. The crown is made of black ceramic, and the caseback is printed with Kaws' signature and the words "Limited to 250 pieces." Holding all the parts of the case together are eight hexagonal "screws", marked, of course, with Kaws' trademark "X".

The watch is paired with a dark grey calfskin strap and a slate grey calfskin strap, both embossed with a textile pattern.

Well, see. I'm the kind of person who goes to Comic-Con every year, finds a booth that's always full of Kaws dolls, and stands in front of it for half an hour, wondering if I've ever paid as much for a second-hand cartoon doll with an X on its hand as I did for a Rolex. The answer is no, but dreams can come true. So I'm not surprised to hear me say that this collaboration makes me very happy.

If you're not into modern consumerist art like Kaws, then it's safe to say that this watch may not be for you. But in a world where both watch and toy collectors can spend a disproportionate amount of their income on collecting sought-after items, and where some works by artists like Kaws fetch millions of dollars at auction, it's only natural that the 250 watches being produced will find buyers, just as the Marvel collaboration did at this price point. For a die-hard Kaws collector whose home is undoubtedly filled with art and sculptures, adding the artist's touch to the watch seemed like the final break – finally, they have a rare edition they can wear with them.

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From a concept standpoint, I really think this collaboration was well done. Compared to the Marvel collaboration, Kaws's art and AP's watchmaking seem to complement each other this time around. The engraving of the titanium Companion complements the shape of the watch and is very self-aware and unique. The metal figure also serves another purpose, as I usually associate most Companion figures with vinyl or wood. The texture and contrast of the brushing and sandblasting here works well and gives it a fresh feel.

Audemars Piguet is undoubtedly developing this new movement with a peripheral time display with the intention of using it as a platform for future character-centric collaborations, whether with Kaws or not. It's a much better system for these designs than a traditional mobile, so I'm curious to see what other artists or pop culture properties Audemars Piguet might collaborate with in the future. But for now, this Le Brassus and Brooklyn piece will be the one to watch.

Brand: Audemars Piguet
Model: Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon "Companion"
Ref: 26656TI.GG.D019VE.01

Diameter: 43 mm
Thickness: 17.4 mm
Case material: Titanium
Dial color: Gray
Hour markers: Inner ring with five-minute markers
Luminous: Yes
Water resistance: 100 meters
Strap/bracelet: Interchangeable light gray and slate gray calfskin straps

Movement
Movement: Calibre 2979
Functions: Hours, minutes, 60-second tourbillon
Diameter: 32.3 mm
Thickness: 10.4 mm
Power reserve: 72 hours
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 21,600 VpH / 3 Hz
Number of jewels: 39