Did Audemars Piguet Just Unveil the Ultimate Royal Oak?

Audemars Piguet has been pulling out all the stops throughout 2025 as the brand celebrates its 150th anniversary, and unsurprisingly, the Royal Oak has been getting a lot of love.

So far this year, we’ve seen the brand introduce two revolutionary new perpetual calendar movements to the Royal Oak family, launch a retro Royal Oak Perpetual in a smaller 38mm case for the first time, and create new ceramic Royal Oaks in the model’s iconic dial color, Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50.

Somehow, the releases just keep getting better, as today AP has unveiled what just might be the ultimate Royal Oak. At the very least, it’s one of the most impressive versions of the legendary sports watch to ever exist.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Jumbo #5

The latest, greatest Royal Oak is the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5 150th Anniversary, or Royal Oak RD#5 for short. As you can tell by that very lengthy name, there’s a whole lot going on with this watch.

To start, the moniker RD#5 refers to this being the fifth in AP’s ambitious Research & Development series, and it also coincidentally took five years to develop. These RD watches, the last of which was released in 2023, represent the absolute cutting-edge of what AP is capable of.

As mentioned in its full name, the Royal Oak RD#5 features a “Jumbo” Extra-Thin case, which is the most iconic and — most would agree — most perfect size for a Royal Oak, clocking in at 39mm across and just 8.1mm thick. (The name “Jumbo” dates to the original Royal Oak from 1972, as its 39mm case was considered oversized for the time period.)

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Those measurements are exactly the same as you’ll get on a two-hand Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Selfwinding, and yet this watch does a lot more than tell the time. It somehow manages to pack in both a flyback chronograph and a flying tourbillon, two complications that — unsurprisingly — have never before been combined in any Royal Oak before, let alone in a “Jumbo” Ultra-Thin case.

So how the hell did AP manage to pack such insane functionality into such a minuscule case? Well, that’s where the five years of development come in. AP’s team set out to create the most ergonomic chronograph imaginable and cooked up the brand-new AP Cal. 8001 automatic movement as a result.

The movement was built from the ground up to maximize thinness and ergonomics at every corner, and several patents were involved in its creation. The two most unique and significant developments of the movement relate to the chronograph pushers and crown.

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The pushers were inspired by the haptic buttons on a smartphone and are practically touch-sensitive. While typical chronograph pushers require 1mm of travel and 1.5kg of pressure to activate, the RD#5’s pushers travel just 0.3mm and need only 300 grams of force to get going.

This not only allows for a more compact movement but also an enhanced user experience. In addition, the brand came up with an entirely new chronograph reset mechanism as well, replacing the hammer and heart piece found in virtually every other chronograph with a patented new rack-and-pinion system that stores and releases energy when needed, eliminating the need for a friction spring.

Despite its groundbreaking nature, the chronograph also features all of the typical goodies collectors covet, including a vertical clutch, column wheel and jumping minutes — the latter a feature rarely seen on any Royal Oak Chronograph.

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The crown is equally revolutionary, as AP has done away with the standard push-pull crown found on nearly every other watch for an innovative design that allows you to select between setting and winding modes by pressing a button that’s integrated into the crown, saving some more room inside the movement.

Oh, and lest we forget, this thing also has a tourbillon. And not just any tourbillon, but the high amplitude flying tourbillon that debuted in the Royal Oak RD#3 in 2022. It’s been redesigned to be thinner, and AP even developed a brand-new escapement for it that is more precise, more energy-efficient and lighter.

Keeping the Cal. 8001 thin is a peripheral rotor in platinum, while the extraordinary 379-component movement features hand-beveling and satin brushing.

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Moving on to the 8.1mm-thick case, AP had to get clever to maintain its proportions with all the new insanity happening inside the watch. That meant using box sapphire crystals on the front and back of the watch that have been hollowed out to sit flat against the case while still allowing room for the hands and rotor.

The case and integrated bracelet are made of titanium, with the brand’s palladium-based Bulk Metal Glass (BMG) — an extra-strong, amorphous metal alloy with glass-like properties — being used for the pushers, crown selector, bezel and studs. The BMG elements have been given a mirror finish, and they are decidedly brilliant.

Lastly, we have the dial, which fittingly features the Royal Oak’s signature Tapisserie pattern in its most recognizable shade of Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50. The hour and minute hands are in white gold and filled with Super-LumiNova, while the lume-filled hour markers are rhodium-toned gold and the chronograph hands are made of titanium. Lastly, the AP wordmark at 12:00 is the same gorgeous vintage script we recently saw on the limited-edition 38mm Perpetual Calendars and is derived from archival documents.

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Pricing and availability

It’s hard to think of a Royal Oak more desirable or revolutionary than this. It has the size and dial color everyone wants, it’s perhaps the most comfortable version of the watch available with its focus on ergonomics and use of titanium, it’s a visual stunner thanks to the polished BMG elements and, most of all, the movement combines two remarkable complications in mind-melting fashion. I mean, what more could you possibly ask for?

AP is certainly aware of the inherent desirability of the Royal Oak RD#5, which is why the watch is limited to 150 pieces (well, let’s call it 149 since you know John Mayer is getting one) and priced accordingly at a heart-stopping CHF 260,000, which currently converts to around $325,900.

Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5 150th Anniversary

Specs

Case Size	39mm
Movement	Audemars Piguet Cal. 8001 automatic flyback chronograph tourbillon
Water Resistance	20m

• $325,900 at Audemars Piguet

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