There are a number of words and phrases that would come to mind whenever I thought about finding one of my all-time grails, the titanium Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854TI.OO.1150TI.01. A range of adjectives describing this watch that go all the way from understated luxury to ultra cool sportiness, a Neo-vintage watch grail, pure watch badassery for those that really know, the ultimate FU watch, but most definitely, the words that would always come to mind, would be: a grand complication by Audemars Piguet for those that want the sportiest look possible in a very understated way.
At first glance from afar, anyone would think that this is just a regular Royal Oak Offshore, but once you look closer, that’s when you see that a perpetual calendar and a 12-hour chronograph have been combined in one robust ‘beast’ that is light as a feather due to its titanium nature and as comfortable as it gets. Meet the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854TI.OO.1150TI.01, a watch that is nearly impossible to find and that takes a very special type of buyer.
It was in 2014 when I first perused one of these Offshore Perpetual grails at MARCUS in London —you can see my editorial with a few pictures of the watch here. It was right then when I immediately fell in love with this reference, just like I did the first time I saw a Royal Oak Offshore ‘The Beast’ ref. 25721ST —my full guide to this reference here— back in 1998 during a high-level meeting with the CEO of Grupo Televisa in Mexico.
My first time perusing the Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854TI at MARCUS in London
While I wasn’t ready to purchase such a watch back in 2014 at MARCUS —retail was close to $100K USD if I am not mistaken—, I started checking off the boxes of other grails that I wanted to own and I did that for the next five years. Then, in 2019 I decided to start looking for one and ran into a few listings of watches missing papers or not in the best condition. For me to take the plunge, I needed the watch to be a full set —boxes, and papers— and in the best condition possible.
Honestly, this wasn’t an easy task as most of the few examples I found of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854TI were missing the papers or being sold with an extract from the archives. On two occasions, back in 2021 and 2022, I found the right watch but the seller just couldn’t make the deal happen.
Then, a week ago, I stumbled upon what I can now call my watch and I knew I had to pull the trigger. While this example is a full set, the bezel has been polished before but the rest of the watch remains untouched, especially the bracelet which is tight as a clam shell. Coincidentally, this is the exact same watch that I almost purchased on those two occasions, I guess when something is meant to be, it just happens. Interestingly enough, this is the year that marks the 30th anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore and I am happy to celebrate it with this piece on my wrist.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854 was launched in 1997 and not in 2003 as many mention in other online sources. At that time, the watch was released in stainless steel with a blue dial, in titanium with a silvery dial, in 18K white gold with a blue dial, and also in 18K yellow gold with a white or blue dial. In 2013, two additional Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronographs were released, one for Italian authorized dealer Restivo under reference 26209 —40 pieces in titanium, 25 in 18K yellow gold, and 10 in platinum— and the other one a unique piece in stainless steel under reference 26214ST. While the production numbers for reference 25854 are not disclosed by AP, some of us scholars, believe that probably no more than about 120 pieces. I personally have not seen a consecutive ‘No.’ above 120 and all of them fall within the same F-serial batch that starts with the consecutive number 02859 and ends at 02978.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854TI in titanium is very light with a total weight of 171.3 grams with all links on its bracelet. All of these Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph reference 25854 are equipped with a 42 mm case size, a 'Clous de Paris Petite Tapisserie' dial, and are powered by the Audemars Piguet Calibre 2226/2839 which is a modular automatic movement with two Dubois Dépraz modules —one for the chronograph and one for the perpetual calendar— that sit on top of the Jaeger-LeCoultre base calibre 889 utilized by Audemars Piguet. Four correctors on the case band are used to set the perpetual calendar with leap-year indication and moon phase indication.
While the layout of the silvery dial is a little bit complex —too much information combined in four subdials— and sometimes hard to read because of the small font, regardless, this watch ticks all the boxes for me.
This watch gives you a date indication with running seconds at 12 o’clock, a moon phase indicator at 3 —full moon indicated by the moon with AP logo—, a month indicator with a 12-hour chronograph totalizer at 6 o’clock, and a month and leap year indicator with a 30-minute chronograph totalizer at 9. Yes, there’s a lot going on, but somehow Audemars Piguet managed to squeeze all those indications into a relatively small dial measuring about 28 mm in diameter and make the watch still look relatively clean.
To complete the very sporty look of this perpetual calendar chronograph there is a brushed silvered flange with a tachymetric scale, all four subdials are all snailed and the black oxidized markers —with a very unique cushion shape— and hands are filled with super bright mint green superluminova —this is the only AP with good lume as far as I am concerned.
On the wrist, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 25854TI wears impeccably despite its 16 mm thickness —only 1 mm thicker than the regular Royal Oak Offshore Chronographs— and looks incredible on the wrist.
In addition to loving everything about this watch, I love the fact that no one knows what I have on my wrist and that is priceless. Am I satisfied with finally getting one of my ultimate grails? Absolutely.
Considered one of the most iconic watches by Audemars Piguet and a rare bird in all the senses of the word. If you find one, expect to pay anywhere between $65,000-75,000 USD based on the availability of boxes and papers and the overall condition of the watch.
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