Hands-On With The fake Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Complication In Titanium And Ceramic (Live Photos, Video, & Pricing)

Audemars Piguet has been making grand complications longer than just about any existing watch manufacture – continuously since 1882. In addition to the handful of AP-marked Grand Comps, they were also consulted on countless grand complications made by other manufactures througout history (ie., did you know that Audemars was consulted by Patek Philippe during the construction of the Graves Supercomplication due to their expertise in chiming mechanisms? They were). And, AP in the modern era has continued to push the ideas replica watches of Grand Complications forward by, for example, housing them in steel, in PVD (a unique watch that later went into space!), and a multitude of case metals and dial styles.

At SIHH this year, AP showed us what could be described as the first sport grand complication – the Royal Oak Offshore Grand Complication in titanium and ceramic. This limited edition of three pieces features the incredible AP calibre 2885, with split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar, and minute repeater. All that requires 648 unique parts, each hand finished and even sandblasted in some cases to give them a contemporary look.

The gold rotor has been finished anthracite to match the sleek grey titanium case. The repeater’s hammers, for example, combine a mirror finish so fine that “a glance could scratch it” with beveling on both the interior and exterior angles. These specific finishes can be considered the watchmaker’s signature – and it’s the type of thing that marks a true AP Grand Complication from an imposter.

The 44mm titanium case is accented by a ceramic bezel, crown, and pushers. The entire watch is openworked, allowing you to see the incredible finishing put into the assembly of this watch. Each watchmaker will spend over 860 hours on each watch, and is required to assemble, test, and disassemble each watch three times before it leaves the workshop. The split-seconds chronograph (activated via the crown, like it should be, eh, Lange?) features a column-wheel mechanism, while the striking mechanism consists of two gongs on the same level.

Each hand-finished, cut-out component is beadblasted with polished bevels, complete with a matte surface underneath. The bridges are finished with both rounded-off and polished bevels, plus satin-brush flanks and circular grained recesses.

The oscillating weight on this grand complication is completely customizable, and is guided via ceramic ball bearings. The moonphase is made with Physical Vapor Deposited metal onto sapphire, because, you know, how else would one do it?

This incredible piece of watchmaking is rated to 20 meter water resistance and comes on a black rubber strap with a titanium buckle – essentially making this an incredibly wearable grand complication. At 44mm in diameter by 17.5mm thick, this AP GC isn’t exactly dainty, but when you consider the immense complications inside, with 52 jewels and a 45 hour power reserve, something tells us any potential owner wouldn’t mind much.

Like with the original Royal Oak, the original Offshore, and more recently the 15305 openworked, AP has created a line-bending new product with the Ti/Ceramic Grand Complication. They’ve taken what is a phenomenally complicated, delicate, and usually ornate timepiece and made it cool, comfortable, and casual, without compromising any purpose.

Here is a quick video of the repeater in action:

The fake Audemars Piguet Grand Complication Royal Oak Offshore in titanium and ceramic will sell for $741,600 and more details are available right here.