As most of you know, Audemars Piguet has been my favorite brand since the late '90s. My love for the iconic Royal Oak has always been there as it was launched the year I was born. A few months ago, I decided to focus my watch collecting hobby on strengthening my AP collection. Therefore, most of my Rolexes and IWCs are now long gone.
This time, I will be talking about the 'hottest' watch of the season. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver. I've been wanting one for months and finally got one yesterday.
This watch ref. 15703ST is fitted with the same caliber 3120 as the 15300ST. Some AP enthusiasts refer to this movement as "one of the greatest automatic movements ever made". In my humble opinion, it is indeed one of the greatest and also very accurate. Power reserve up to 60 hours.
The case diameter is 42mm like on most Offshores, however, the ref.15703ST has a slightly flatter bezel that makes it appear much larger than 42mm. The thickness of the case is massive at 13.8mm, yet very comfortable. The usual matte finish and polished bevels/chamfers are just perfection!!!
The movement is encased in a anti-magnetic casing that needs to be unscrewed after removing the case back. The case back is almost twice as thick as the case back in other Offshores to guarantee that the watch can withstand the pressure at 300m deep. Total weight of the watch 169grs.
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This watch is fitted with a beautiful rubber strap with a thick rubber grain very different to other Offshore straps (i.e. Rubberclad ones) and comes with a pin buckle in stainless steel. The buckle is very solid with matte finish on the front but polished at the very end of the edge between the back and the front. The back of the clasp and pin are sand blasted featuring AP and ACIER INOX engravings.
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The dial in this watch is a "Méga Tapisserie" (big waffle pattern) in black with white gold applied hour-markers and hands with luminescent coating and a inner rotating flange with diving scale that is also luminous. AP gave a glossy effect to this dial to make it appear as if it was wet. Just unbelievable nice and quite hard to appreciate in pictures. This dial comes with the classic double-baton hour marker at 12 o'clock like on the 5402ST or the 15202ST.
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The luminova is not the most powerful, but with enough brightness and several hours of night life. If you are a crazy 'luminova lover' you will be disappointed. I really miss the luminova of my IWC Aquatimer and the Mission Earth!!
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The calendar wheel is black with white fonts and the date aperture is square shaped instead of round as in most Offshores. The date aperture comes with a built-in loupe that appears to be glareproofed. If you notice on some of the pics, the date window appears to have a very slight blueish tint around the corners. The numbers on the calendar use the newer AP font with serifs opposed to the old school font in the 5402 and the 15202. The pictures make the font on the calendar wheel appear quite thick and solid white, but in real life the don't look that solid to me, especially the double-digit dates.
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The watch is fitted with very sturdy over-sized Rubberclad (opposed to Therban as in most Offshores) screw-down crowns. These crowns are used for setting the time and rotating the inner flange diving scale. In order to rotate the inner flange diving scale, you need to unscrew the crown at the 10 o'clock position and then rotate clockwise. The crown needs to be screwed back in before immersion in the water. The flange only rotates in one direction and the clicks are perfectly aligned with the minute markers on the dial. The main crown comes with a large AP engraving while the flange rotating crown comes with a circle around the perimeter.
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The watch is fitted with a glareproofed sapphire crystal. The glareproof coating is only applied to the interior of the crystal and not to the outside.The crystal is quite thick and sturdy. It sits into the bezel flatter than on other Offshores where you can see the edge of the crystal even more.
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After wearing the watch for one full day, all I can say is WOW!
The watch wears very comfortably, it matches all types of outfits —dressed down or suited up— and the understated look of it is unparalleled.
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