Two weeks ago Audemars Piguet dropped the new watches to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak. Among the new releases, a new 37 mm Royal Oak ref. 15550 50th anniversary made its appearance and here we bring you our hands-on review with live pictures. While we’ve never been the biggest fans of the face lifted ref. 15500 missing the ‘Automatic’ writing on its dial, at a significantly smaller size —4 mm smaller in diameter— the new 37 mm Royal Oak looks quite fine. Available in four different dial variations, the new 50th anniversary Royal Oaks in 37 mm are as follows:
Royal Oak ref. 15550ST.OO.1356ST.01 with silvered dial
Royal Oak ref. 15550ST.OO.1356ST.02 with Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50 dial
Royal Oak ref. 15550ST.OO.1356ST.03 with ruthenium grey dial
Royal Oak ref. 15550ST.OO.1356ST.04 with light blue dial
Below we’ve added a bunch of pictures of references 15300, 15400, and 15500 so you can see the evolution of the Royal Oak in the last 14 years or so.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15400ST (left) and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15300ST (right).
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15500ST
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15500ST (left) and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15400ST (right).
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ref. 15500ST
Things to Know About the Watch
Although retaining the aesthetic codes of the original Royal Oak designed by Gérald Genta, these new references present slight evolutions in terms of case, bracelet and dial design. Additional models in 41 and 34 mm will be available in the second half of 2022 to continue the Royal Oak Jubilee. For now, the new 37 mm models are only available in stainless steel or in stainless steel with a diamond-set bezel.
New Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 37 mm ref. 15550 50th Anniversary
The slightly redesigned case of the new 50th anniversary Royal Oak makes the watch appear slightly wider and slender, therefore, a 37 mm wears more like a 38 mm. For this 50th anniversary new iteration of the Royal Oak ref. 15550, Audemars Piguet has performed subtle changes to the watch case by enlarging the bevels —chamfers— to enhance the play of light between the satin-finished and polished surfaces, and making the watch appear slightly wider and more slender.
To accentuate the new case design, the first four links of the bracelet are now trapezoid-shaped to taper more. Lastly, the bracelet links are thinner throughout the bracelet, and therefore lighter, offering additional comfort and ergonomics.
With regards to the dial, there are also a bunch of changes that have been made. The luminescent faceted hour markers have been standardized in terms of the size and width between the different models across the collection including the 34, 37, 38 and 41 mm Royal Oaks to be cohesive in terms of proportions.
In addition to the markers, the usual applied ‘AP’ logo and ‘Audemars Piguet’ imprint at 12 o’clock has been replaced by a new applied ‘Audemars Piguet’ logo where each letter is interconnected with links approximately the size of a human hair. This new logo on the Royal Oak 50th anniversary models follows the same design and construction of the logo that was first introduced for the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet. This logo is made of thin layers of 24K gold, that have been obtained through a chemical process akin to 3D printing known as galvanic growth.
While we love the new light blue dial version —not available until now—, the new hue of blue —Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50— is simply gorgeous. For sure less electric blue looking and closer to the hue of the original Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ and the new 16202ST. All new AP Royal Oak 37 mm ref. 15550 50th Anniversary models feature a Grande Tapisserie on their dial. More about the Audemars Piguet ‘tapisserie’ here.
The Movement
The new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 37mm reference 15550 is powered by the new Audemars Piguet calibre 5900. Composed of 186 parts and 29 jewels, the automatic calibre 5900 provides a power reserve of 60 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph. The movement features the special ‘50-years’ oscillating weight in rhodium-toned 22K pink gold which will be fitted to all watches during the year 2022. With the new Audemars Piguet calibre 5900 also comes a slightly thinner case construction measuring only 8.9 mm in thickness which is definitely an upgrade from previous models.
On the Wrist & Price
At first glance, one would think that this is a quartz Royal Oak as the word ‘Automatic’ is not there, making this Royal Oak reference along with the 15500 the first self-winding Royal Oaks since 1972 to not bear the ‘Automatic’ designation on its dial. On the wrist, the new 37 mm Royal Oak 50th Anniversary ref. 15550ST wears slightly bigger than its actual size and more like a 38 mm watch on a 7.5” wrist circumference.
These new 37 mm automatic Royal Oaks celebrating the 50th anniversary are definitely a great addition to the Royal Oak collection. Without a doubt, all four watches are stunners but our two favorites are the Bleu Nuit Nuage 50 and the light blue one we have here.
Sticker Price $24,100 USD and $33,200 USD with Diamond-Set Bezel. For more info on Audemars Piguet click here.
