Telling time is one thing.
Racing against it is something else.
Audemars Piguet partnered with Alinghi in the early 2000s as the Swiss sailing team competed in the America’s Cup.
That relationship eventually produced one of the coolest Royal Oak Offshore families AP ever made.
Two of the standout references were:
26062FS forged carbon
26062OR rose gold with a forged-carbon bezel
And these weren’t just cosmetic collaborations.
They used a flyback chronograph with a 10-minute regatta countdown designed around yacht-racing starts, along with Alinghi-inspired dial details and red accents.
The carbon model is especially interesting because this was still early in AP’s use of forged carbon, a material that would go on to become a huge part of the Offshore identity.
It also fits into a much bigger connection between luxury watches and sailing.
Panerai has Luna Rossa.
Omega has long been tied to Team New Zealand and the America’s Cup.
Rolex has decades of involvement in competitive yachting.
But the Alinghi Offshores feel different.
They came from a period when AP was really willing to experiment with materials, complications, and design.
Between these two, I’m taking the rose gold.
The combination of rose gold, forged carbon, rubber, and a purpose-built regatta complication is ridiculous in exactly the way a Royal Oak Offshore should be.
When was the last time you raced against the clock?
