One and only...Michael Schumacher

[TheWatchStandard]

This is and will always be my favorite ROC of all time!!

When will Ap revisit this design? instead of making new dial for 26401s...

[sokoloka]

Those hex headed bezel screws - favorite part of that gorgeous reference!

[benlee]

I have seen the Platinum blue version once. Its hands down the most impressive ROO I have seen, bar none.

[mspeed76]

looks great but i have yet to see one of these guys in person..

[AK797]

The dials are a little over fussy and the bat's wing pushers are too much, but other than that it is a fine watch, I think the 26401s are so good already that this extra had to be added, but to its detriment for me.

[TheWatchStandard]

Originally Posted by mspeed76

looks great but i have yet to see one of these guys in person..

I got really lucky, mine is limited#94* out of 1000. One of the best investment i've ever made.

[ufboy73]

I bought mine new and sold it..still miss it sometimes but it was too monochromatic grey for me

[HK Islandboy]

Beautiful watch

[conkers]

Awesome beast in platinum.

[TheWatchStandard]

Originally Posted by conkers

Awesome beast in platinum.

just stunning!

[Gravity]

Very nice !

[Colin W]

Still loving mine



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[ufboy73]

Originally Posted by conkers

Awesome beast in platinum.

The PT version is incredible!!

[othertbone]

Thats a beast on your wrist!

[PPFANBOY]

Originally Posted by TheWatchStandard

This is and will always be my favorite ROC of all time!!

When will Ap revisit this design? instead of making new dial for 26401s...

Originally Posted by conkers

Awesome beast in platinum.

Very pretty indeed gents.
My all time favourite ROO, in all variants.

[Dreamshocker]

What are the chronograph guard pusher materials? Looks like titanium but its not

[Colin W]

Originally Posted by Dreamshocker

What are the chronograph guard pusher materials? Looks like titanium but its not

It’s sand blasted titanium


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[NOPDK]

Have had since new purchased from Bal Harbour boutique. Agree to monochromatic on the original grey rubber. Also boring on black rubber.

Some strap options I've tried that change look. The red rubber is my favorite. Super classy on the OEM custom blue croc with silver stitch. The Blue rubber from the platinum piece works great. The white works better than I expected.

Wore mine to the factory tour years ago and Octavio did a sketch for me at lunch that I still have on my office wall. Really enjoyed meeting him. Great designer and I think this is his best SE.

The pusher area is bead blasted Ti. I believe only this piece and the Jarno Trulli had the cermet bezel. After all of these years mine shows zero signs of wear and has been impervious to scratches while looking like super polished metal. Perfect material for AP bezel, was surprised they stopped using it.

[Colin W]

Nice pics. You have some great looking combos - the red looks particularly good


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[edo]

Originally Posted by NOPDK

I believe only this piece and the Jarno Trulli had the cermet bezel. After all of these years mine shows zero signs of wear and has been impervious to scratches while looking like super polished metal. Perfect material for AP bezel, was surprised they stopped using it.

Wonderful sketch by Octavio...

Trulli and 3 Schumis are not only two APs with ceremet bezel. There is also Pride of Mexico 10 piece limited edtion, and Kidz Horizon openworked RO piece Unique.

It's a shame they don't use it anymore. It have the perfect metal structure, polished/brushed angles of steel version and scratch resistance of ceramics...

[NOPDK]

Originally Posted by edo

Wonderful sketch by Octavio...

Trulli and 3 Schumis are not only two APs with ceremet bezel. There is also Pride of Mexico 10 piece limited edtion, and Kidz Horizon openworked RO piece Unique.

It's a shame they don't use it anymore. It have the perfect metal structure, polished/brushed angles of steel version and scratch resistance of ceramics...

Good info. Thanks. Guess the tooling and finishing on Cermet proved to be too cumbersome to be viable? On the polished portions it is more reflective than SS or gold and still takes a brushed finish nicely. IMO a full cermet piece would be pretty amazing as it would look like metal but be much more scratch resistant.

[Dreamshocker]

Originally Posted by Colin W

It’s sand blasted titanium


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I put watch protective film on it, is it okay? Im scared during i take off the watch protective film later on, it will make the color fade out?

[Dreamshocker]

8DC2BC84-410A-495F-9A10-A61E5E63144C.jpeg

Im scared if one day i take off the protective film, the sand blasted will fade out. Or i better take it off now?

The watch protective film maker said to me it will be fine.

[ragsk]

The Schumacher is such a great watch. Totally incredible piece. I also love it in Rose Gold but that is even harder to get!

[edo]

Originally Posted by NOPDK

Good info. Thanks. Guess the tooling and finishing on Cermet proved to be too cumbersome to be viable? On the polished portions it is more reflective than SS or gold and still takes a brushed finish nicely. IMO a full cermet piece would be pretty amazing as it would look like metal but be much more scratch resistant.

Maybe the production of material is hard, maybe as you say it was difficult to deal with, but I think at the end of the day it always comes to profit margin... same thing with Jumbo... they changed the original design and made the holy Jumbo a duoblock instead of monoblock just to improve profit margin.

And it's a shame because after 10 years material is still gorgeous looking and without any defect.

They got rid of FC because carbon loose its shape very badly on pronounce edges of the bezel (GP models) and even cases are not sharp looking after some time...

Another material I would love to see again in AP world is tantalum...

[NOPDK]

Originally Posted by Dreamshocker

Attachment 1193425

Im scared if one day i take off the protective film, the sand blasted will fade out. Or i better take it off now?

The watch protective film maker said to me it will be fine.

in my experience Ti goes through an oxidation process when exposed to air. I have a Ti panerai and you can buff small marks that at first look lighter than the rest of the case but after a day the metal darkens back up and blends. If you peel the film may be lighter at first but once you wash off any residual adhesive the pushers should blend to even color in a few days. Or at least that is my expectation. personally the plastic sitting there looks awful. It would be difficult to scratch that portion of the watch.

[NOPDK]

Originally Posted by edo

Maybe the production of material is hard, maybe as you say it was difficult to deal with, but I think at the end of the day it always comes to profit margin... same thing with Jumbo... they changed the original design and made the holy Jumbo a duoblock instead of monoblock just to improve profit margin.

And it's a shame because after 10 years material is still gorgeous looking and without any defect.

They got rid of FC because carbon loose its shape very badly on pronounce edges of the bezel (GP models) and even cases are not sharp looking after some time...

Another material I would love to see again in AP world is tantalum...

Good thoughts. Agree.

Was able to put ceramic bezel on my Grand Prix and like that much more than the original FC bezel. Cool thing about the ceramic bezel on GP is that it is a two piece design just like the forged carbon one with a very 3d profile. I believe I had the first ceramic bezel conversion installed at Clearwater and they also swapped the white date disk for a black one. My understanding is they only did this on two Grand Prix before changing policy and not offering to do it anymore.

[edo]

Originally Posted by NOPDK

Good thoughts. Agree.

Was able to put ceramic bezel on my Grand Prix and like that much more than the original FC bezel. Cool thing about the ceramic bezel on GP is that it is a two piece design just like the forged carbon one with a very 3d profile. I believe I had the first ceramic bezel conversion installed at Clearwater and they also swapped the white date disk for a black one. My understanding is they only did this on two Grand Prix before changing policy and not offering to do it anymore.

I remember your GP with ceramic bezel and black date wheel from this or watchprosite forums long time ago, but I through they allowed everyone to replace FC with ceramic bezel because they messed big time with FC bezels... saw one last year and it looked more almost round like the Hublot one than AP octagonal bezel shape...

[m3jasper]

Beautiful piece, one of my favorite ROO's.

Wish I had the wrist to pull it off.

[NOPDK]

Originally Posted by edo

I remember your GP with ceramic bezel and black date wheel from this or watchprosite forums long time ago, but I through they allowed everyone to replace FC with ceramic bezel because they messed big time with FC bezels... saw one last year and it looked more almost round like the Hublot one than AP octagonal bezel shape...

Good memory. My understanding is that there was an initial batch of ceramic bezels for the GP that were sharp and angular. This is what I have on my watch. After this small initial run there was a second ceramic bezel design that was more rounded and not as nicely done. I believe that AP will still replace any GP FC bezel with ceramic but the cost to do so is not insignificant and they will not return the FC bezel to you.

As far as the black date wheel to my knowledge they only did this twice and then changed their mind on it. When they did the bezel they swapped my date wheel. At that point I had a good conversational relationship with the person at clearwater service center and when they contacted me to ship piece back to me I recall them making a point that after they installed my datewheel they received notification from the mothership to no longer do the swap. They said they did it on my watch and one other and that was it. To be fair that may only represent the USA service center and I suppose that black date wheels could have also been installed in other regions but beats me. The other piece with black date wheel was posted for sale on this site a few years back.