Audemars Piguet have teamed up with American rap star Travis Scott and his record label Cactus Jack to release the new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” Limited Edition. In an interesting twist, Scott actually hinted at the collab half a year ago with a lyric in his newest album Utopia that dropped in July 2023, rapping about a “Chocolate AP”. It’s also the final project overseen by François-Henry Bennahmias as CEO of AP before Ilaria Resta takes over in January – a fitting exit for someone who has overseen some… interesting… collaborations like the Spiderman.
As Scott’s “Chocolate AP” bar indicates, the watch features a rich brown case made from high tech ceramic, an incredibly tough, lightweight material. This is the first time Audermars Piguet have produced brown ceramic, making it unique in the entire Royal Oak range.
The “Cactus Jack” measures 41mm in diameter and 9.9mm in thickness. It looks great, the broad octagonal bezel and flat surfaces of the Royal Oak design really highlight the richness of the colour and the fine brushed finishing. I can’t think of any other brown ceramic watches out there.
Looking at the dial, it’s a mix of Cactus Jack references while also retaining the overall display and functionality of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked. The most readily apparent aspect of the collaboration is the custom typography for the days, date, weeks, months and leap year indicators. It’s Travis Scott’s personal handwriting taken from design sketches he produced during the process of creating the watch.
I don’t count myself as a Travis Scott fan and feel no particular connection to the idea of owning something he had a direct hand in designing. At the very least it’s still clear and legible, plus it does have a slight irreverence that’s quite fun. Its style also matches that of the Cactus Jack logo found on the hand of the days subdial and the smiley face moon on the moonphase.
Visible behind the subdials is the movement powering the piece, which is the in-house self-winding calibre 5135 with 40-hour power reserve. It’s equipped with week indication, day, date, astronomical moon, month, leap year, hours and minutes, all of which will be accurate until the year 2100 assuming it’s kept wound. You can also view the movement through the exhibition caseback where you can see the Cactus Jack logo again on the rotor.
In celebration of the launch, Cactus Jack hosted a takeover of the Audemars Piguet boutique in New York including music, a capsule clothing collection and more. It was also the first preview of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked “Cactus Jack” Limited Edition. As for availability, only 200 pieces are being produced and priced at an eye-watering CHF 178,000 (excl. taxes). This is one of the more interesting releases from Audemars Piguet this year, but I think that says more about their other watches this year than it does about this one.
Price and Specs:
Model:
Audemars
Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked ‘Cactus Jack’ Limited Edition
Ref:
26585CM.OO.D301VE.01
Case:
41mm
diameter x 9.9mm thickness, brown ceramic
Dial:
Sapphire
dial, subdials with pink gold frame and calendar indications with luminescent coating glowing green in the dark, number 31 in the counter at 3 o’clock turning blue at night, applied gold hour-markers and Royal Oak hands endowed with brown PVD and luminescent coating turning blue in the dark, brown inner bezel
Water resistance:
200m
(20 bar)
Movement:
AP
calibre 5135, in-house, automatic, 38 jewels
Frequency:
19,800
vph (2.75 Hz)
Power reserve:
40h
Functions:
Hours,
minutes, perpetual calendar (week indication, day, date, astronomical moon, month, leap year)
Strap:
Brown
leather with textured jeans effect with pink gold folding clasp, AP & Travis Scott signatures
Price:
CHF
178,000 (excl. taxes), limited to 200 pieces
More details at Audemars Piguet.
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