Elegant Replica Audemars Piguet Coming with Chronograph Function

The Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph Squelette was launched in platinum at the 2017 SIHH, however, you will see two different models here – one in pink gold and one in titanium, with a new pink gold-tinted version of the caliber 2396 as well. The design for these fake watches was firstly produced in cooperation with the best-kept-secret SoHo luxury boutique Material Good, which opened in 2015 as a kind of high-end shoppable speakeasy. Material Good is available only by elevator and offers vintage and modern watches, as well as fine art, custom furniture, and more, all in an environment that seems more ultra-hip private home than a traditional luxury boutique, which is located on the second floor of a Wooster Street building. They’re an authorized retailer for the best replica Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet, and the walls feature art by Basquiat and Warhol. AP says the watches were, “…conceived out of a creative dialogue between the fake Audemars Piguet and SoHo luxury retailer Material Good.” 
The replica watches are showcases for the full repertoire of high-end Swiss watchmaking in every respect. The case-work, movement finishing, and level of complexity are all textbook examples of classic top-tier hand craftsmanship. The “hand craftsmanship” can be anything from a mildly to a badly abused term in the context of luxury watchmaking, but in the case of these two watches, it’s completely true and the results are worth studying not only for the sheer pleasure they provide visually but also for what they provide as a kind of gold (or titanium) standard against which to measure other examples of these crafts.
Of course, these are somewhat larger than standard model Royal Oak watches but they’re totally in the Royal Oak family, not the Offshore, despite the 44mm diameter (and 13.2mm case thickness). As you would expect, the case finishing is both well done and totally complex, with the choices of brushed and polished surfaces producing the jewel-like reflectivity and visual drama for which the Royal Oak has been famous since its debut in 1972.
As a matter of fact, the major attraction of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak has always been the degree to which the bracelet is integrated with the fake watch head. One of the significant things about the Royal Oak, and part of what made it as revolutionary as a design, is that it did away with the usual visual separation between the watch and the strap or bracelet. For most of the history of watchmaking, these were distinct elements, reflecting the origins of wristwatches as pocket watches to which straps had been affixed.
The integration of fake watch head and bracelet is taken one step further in the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Chronograph through the integration of the movement into the overall design as well. Caliber 2936 is not a particularly huge diameter movement – at 13 1/4 lignes, or about 29.90 mm, it’s a pretty classic width – but it is 8.07mm thick and is a better fit in a slightly larger case. The whole movement has been elaborately and very artistically open-worked and, other than the pretty mind-blowing finishing of the case (after all these years, the ability of the Royal Oak to dazzle the eye remains undiminished) this is where plenty of the value-added of these watches can be found.
It keeps the real thing that sharp internal angles on finished movement components are not really possible to execute well by machine and are a hallmark of hand-finishing. It’s very difficult to say whether this will remain true for the foreseeable future, however; lasers can do some hair-raising things already. As we all know that the movement both front and back is all you could hope for in terms of refinement, with polished, brushed, and sandblasted surfaces interacting in a most mouthwatering fashion.
As you will see, there is a rather considerable difference between the two models in terms of wearing experience. Each is pretty nice in its own way but the pink gold model is unabashedly, deeply satisfyingly luxurious, while the titanium version has a more futuristic, urban-cool kinda vibe.

Read More »

Newly Manufactured Strange Vintage Rolex Watches Coming Up

rolex

We’ve all been hotly anticipating this season’s auctions – mainly because the you-know-what is coming up for auction, but also because it’s always nice to peruse the crisp pages of a freshly printed catalog and see what’s going on there. Some seasons are more exciting than others, and this fall’s selection has definitely exceeded expectations. Here are two examples of the replica Rolex watches that I had literally never heard of before coming across them this week. They don’t look like anything else out there – but the stories check out, or so we think. 
This two-tone 6265/3 was a custom piece made for Bruce J. Leven, a Seattle-based entrepreneur and gentleman racing legend, who has been successful with his waste management company, Bayside Disposal. Leven was famous in the racing circles, and more than held his own as a driver, competing at the top level. This, combined with his love of Porsches, soon translated into owning the Bayside Disposal Racing Team. Leven and his team went on to take three wins at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and, notably, purchased Porsche 962 chassis #001 in 1984. In order to cherish and celebrate the occasion, his best friend and the then-Vice President of the replica Rolex USA, William Rosen, offered Leven “any fake Rolex watch in the catalog.” Leven chose the 6265 but he had one request: he wanted it “with a twist,” and asked for it in two-tone (this was 1984 after all).
His wish was granted, and here it is a possibly unique two-tone 6265/3 with box, papers, service papers, and service sticker on the case back. The 6265 was produced from 1971 to 1988, in yellow gold or stainless steel (with a couple of wild cards in between). It’s known for its steel or gold bezel, and for having screw-down pushers. The 6265 also has been known to feature the fake Paul Newman dial, though most of those have been put in 6263 cases at this point. Ellen owns a gold non-PN 6265 and we have seen a couple on Talking Watches with Morgan King and John Goldberger. Goldberger’s is in white gold with a crazy-cool bracelet. Yes, and did I mention that it’s a piece special? This two-tone is essentially a follow up to that, and the fact that this even exists in two-tone is crazy.

Read More »

The Most Expensive Rolex Ever Happened at Auction

watches for sale

Watch auctions have been setting and breaking numerous records in the past two years. That’s not only in sales but also in attendance. 2017’s spring Geneva auction week reported some of the highest numbers of spectators to date. Despite shifts in demand within the replica watch market, the auction world has kept on ballooning. 
Rolex auctions in particular have seen unprecedented interest in the past few years, from enthusiasts seated front row for the action to invisible collectors placing anonymous bids over the phone. If you want to know more about the fake Rolex’s overwhelming popularity, simply look at the records set by the replica Rolex sales at auction in the past two years.
5. The fifth most expensive Rolex sold at the Phillips Geneva Watch Auction in May of 2015 for $1.4 million. The extremely rare model “Oyster Albino” Cosmograph Daytona circa 1971 is one of only four known timepieces to garner the “albino” name. But adding to its appeal was the identity of its seller: none other than the legendary guitarist, Eric Clapton. watches
4. The third most expensive Rolex sold at the same Phillips event in 2016 for $2.4 million, nearly $800,000 over its pre-sale high estimate. The Antimagnetic ref. 4113 circa 1942 was never available for public sale. The fact is that the fake Rolex only gifted to an elite group of racing teams and their drivers. Only twelve of the models are known to exist, making it incredibly rare.
3. The fourth most expensive Rolex sold just a year later at Phillips in May 2016. The Paul Newman Oyster Sotto, ref. 6263 circa 1969 just broke the $2 million mark at a final price of $2,053,165. As one of only two famous Oyster Sotto models to feature the distinct, rich chocolate brown “tropical” dial, it’s a highly-coveted collector piece.
2. The second most expensive fake Rolex sold at auction in May 2017. The yellow gold Oyster Paul Newman Daytona-dubbed “The Legend”-pulled in a whopping $3.7 million on the second day of the Phillips Geneva Watch Auction, making it the most expensive Daytona sold at auction at the time. The watch is one of only three known yellow gold Oyster Paul Newman Daytona models in existence. IMG_2418
1.The most expensive Rolex sold at the same auction in May 2017, blowing all previous sales out of the water. The Bao Dai ref. 6062 set a new world record at the staggering price of $5,060,427. The watch belonged to the last emperor of Vietnam, and it’s the only known variation of the model to feature a black dial and diamond indexes.
However, 2017 is really a great year for the best replica Rolexes.

Read More »