This Take on the Iconic Royal Oak Is So Impressive, It Seems Impossible

It may be the ultimate version of the definitive luxury sports watch.

Silver stainless steel Audemars Piguet watch with blue textured dial and metal bracelet.

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Published December 27, 2025

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Virtually every major watch brand today offers an integrated luxury sports watch in its catalog, and they can all trace their lineage back to one watch: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.

Gérald Genta’s masterpiece popularized the idea of a steel luxury sports watch when it debuted in 1972, and in the decades since, AP has produced countless takes on the octagonal icon.

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But none have impressed more than the RD#5 created to celebrate Audemars Piguet’s 150th anniversary in 2025.

Silver metal wristwatch with a blue textured dial and visible tourbillon mechanism on a white surface. — Behold, the ultimate Royal Oak.

The prototypical version of the Royal Oak is the “Jumbo” Extra-Thin, specifically in steel with its tapisserie dial in the model’s signature Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50 shade. And it’s this model that the RD#5 used as a jumping-off point in its journey to becoming the ultimate Royal Oak.

The case of the RD#5 has the same Goldilocks dimensions as the Jumbo, measuring 39mm across and just 8.1mm thick. That’s very thin for a simple automatic time-and-date watch like the “Jumbo” Extra-Thin. It’s mind-bogglingly thin for the RD#5.

Silver Audemars Piguet watch with blue textured dial and visible tourbillon on black background. — Despite its far more complicated movement, the RD#5’s case is exactly the same size as the “Jumbo” Extra-Thin.

That’s because the automatic RD#5 packs both a flyback chronograph and a flying tourbillon — two of the most complex mechanical watch complications — into its 8.1mm-thick vessel, a seemingly magical feat only made possible by several patented innovations in the new movement AP created for the RD#5, Calibre 8001, including haptic-inspired chronograph pushers and a button on the crown to cycle between setting and winding modes.

The RD#5 features a Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50 tapisserie dial, but it swaps out the Jumbo’s steel case and bracelet for a mix of brushed titanium and mirror-polished, palladium-based Bulk Metal Glass. The result is a more comfortable design with increased strength and greater visual pop.