Audemars Piguet Drops A New Marvel Collaboration: The Royal Concept Tourbillon ‘Spider-Man’

 

Audemars Piguet is back with yet another Marvel collaboration and this time it is your friendly neighbourhood spider - Spider-man.

This takes us back to 2021 when most watch collectors were outraged at Bennahmias’s vision of a miniature of the black panther in a Royal Oak. A watch that soon gravitated towards the celebrated wrists of LeBron James, The Weeknd and many more. In fact the white gold Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon was even sold at an auction for a charitable cause for a whooping US$5.2 million.

Today, Audemars Piguet continues its collaboration with Marvel with a new version featuring a three-dimensional miniature of Spider-Man hand-painted in white gold placed in a 42mm titanium case with a ceramic bezel and crown. The new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon ‘Spider-Man’ is powered by the new hand-wound calibre 2974 which has clearly been stripped down to make spidey the star of the show. In watch terminology one would consider this to be a skeletonised or an open-worked dial but given Audemar Piguet’s affiliation towards comical pop culture, we’d say it looks more like a webbed dial.

Each spider-man figure took over 50 hours to create. First cut from a block of white gold using a CNC machine, the super-hero’s suit is then laser engraved to give it those textures. Post this all the touch-ups and engraving-related finishings are done by hand by a single artisan, making each watch unique. The final touch is then the hand painting that gives the figurine even more perspective.

With PVD-coated gold hour markers, Arabic numerals and hands overlaid with the same material, the watch gives you the entire Queens (New York) vibe as the white luminance on the dial (hands and numerals) turn blue in the dark.

Lastly, the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Spider-Man’ comes with an interchangeable strap system. So you could either pair it with that black and red or a black and grey rubber strap, both with titanium AP buckles.

The Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Spider-Man’ is limited yet again to 250 pieces and has been priced at 195,000 Swiss francs. However as Spider-man once said, “with great power comes great responsibility”, Audemars Piguet has offered a piece-unique - Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon' Black Suit Spider-Man’ to be auctioned with all the proceedings going to two non-profit organisations - Ashoka and First Book. This luxurious neighbourhood spider crossed the Black Panthers US$5.2 million mark with a whooping US$ 6.2 million!

Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon ' Black Suit Spider-Man’

Distinctive, futuristic and audacious, the new Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Spider-Man’ may not be a favourite amongst traditionalists and watch collectors, but is most certainly a collectible.