Although Audemars Piguet has presented all the Royal Oaks and Haute horology for SIHH 2018, it’s very hard to ignore something as strange, bold, and exotic as the replica Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT. Not for pure advertisement, it does introduce Audemars Piguet’s first flying tourbillon as well as some design updates, and it is the latest product among the collection that is inherently polarizing and interesting.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept has been around since 2002 and has been the canvas for some of the brand’s most avant-garde, futuristic-looking Haute horology creations. Actually, this style of Flying Tourbillon GMT shares the designation as AP’s first flying tourbillon watch, while another movement was found in the diamond-decked Royal Oak Concept Ladies’ Flying Tourbillon that was introduced concurrently in 2018.
Except for the tourbillon, there are some other notable changes in the design and materials for this latest version. A lot of ceramic and other exotic materials in the movement such as carbon fiber have been used for previous Royal Oak Concept watches, now let’s appreciate our new style with white ceramic.
From the watch’s dial, we can see black sandblasted titanium was chosen this time for the central bridges, with polished and gold-toned facet, which is really a rather cool touch personally. One can also see glimpses of Audemars Piguet’s (in-house, of course) 2954 movement through openings between the various indications. Besides the time and the tourbillon at 9 o’clock, there is the second time zone indicated via a disc at 3 o’clock with an aperture that kind of looks like one of those wide date displays that have, thankfully, mostly gone out of fashion. Partially revealed under smoked glass is the part of the disc not currently displaying the time. 
It may not obvious what the “H, N, R” at 6 o’clock is for, but it simply indicates the crown setting. H is for the French Heures (hours) where you can set the time, N is for neutral (neutral) when the crown is pushed all the way in, and R is for remontoir (winder) where you can wind the movement. It was indicated by a hand for previous Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon GMT watches. While for this new style is a disc indication that is a bit more elegantly integrated into the rest of the design. This will be simple for the user but it looks generally technical and complicated for onlookers.
The octagonally faceted bezel (still in ceramic) with its eight miraculously aligned screws ties the other pretty distinctive Concept family to the broader Royal Oak collection perfectly. On the other hand, the case is rather different from anything else at AP. Here, it is in sandblasted titanium. Its geometric facets – echoed in the bridges and other elements – remind me of a video mapping loop, an 8-bit mountain range, Kryton from the sci-fi Britcom Red Dwarf, or perhaps a Linde Werdelin Octopus watch – all fine watch design inspirations. It is 44mm wide, 16.1mm thick, and 100m water-resistant with a screw-down crown. The case is quite long, however, with a rubber strap that juts out from the lugs, so wrists that can otherwise accommodate a 44mm watch should beware of potential overhang.
The crown guard that incorporates the pusher at 4 o’clock also fit well for the GMT/tourbillon Royal Oak Concept watches, now changed up to be angular instead of round. That pusher advances the second time zone’s disc by an hour. In my opinion, in the most strict sense, replica watches denoted as “GMT” are “supposed to” display the second time zone is 24 hours, whereas this second time zone disc shows 12 hours.
While the flying tourbillon provides plenty of dazzles and mechanical fascination on the dial side, it is not visible from the back of the watch. Here, you can see skeletonized bridges with mostly brushed and sandblasted finishing and more of the movement. One can also more clearly see the two barrels and their mainsprings that provide a grand 237 hours (about 10 days) of power reserve. Made of 348 parts and operating at 3Hz, the manually-wound Audemars Piguet caliber 2954 is “new” with its flying tourbillon but shares a lot in common with previous replica Rolex watches, including the same frequency and power reserve – so it is more of an evolution than something totally new. However the bridge design is different, and I believe that other changes include the way the crown position indicator functions more simply as a disc.
We have found that the tourbillon craze has died down to some degree as the horological extravagance was prominent a few years ago, and more brands are recently focusing on mainstream and entry-level pieces, value, and lowering prices. So why make a flying tourbillon now? To stay competitive in the realm of ultra-luxury sport-style watches like those from Hublot, Richard Mille, and Roger Dubuis, for some point it could remind collectors that the Royal Oak Concept can still be fresh and plays an important role in this field.