Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Nick Faldo Championship 56175TT Tantalum Quartz
Released in 1972 and designed by Gerald Genta, watchmaking's most famous designer, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was the first stainless steel luxury sports watch ever to exist. Released as a tactic to survive the quartz crisis, the Royal Oak can single-handedly be thanked for AP's existence today due to its astounding success, albeit it wasn't an overnight hit. Its sizeable tonneau-shaped case, signature integrated bracelet, octagonal bezel, exposed screws, and steel construction failed to win over collectors until a few years later. Today, the Royal Oak is one of the most highly-coveted timepieces in all horology as its previously dismissed design details have permeated across the industry and into watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus, Vacheron Constantin Overseas, Rolex Oysterquartz, amongst many other legendary timepieces.
Released in the 90s, the AP Royal Oak ref. 56175 is a wonderful example of the Royal Oak's ability to be sized up or down depending on the customers that AP wanted their watch to cater for. A 33mm diameter timepiece, the ref. 56175 is indeed a scaled-down version of Gerald Genta's iconic design, with every aspect of its construction equally scaled-down so precisely that nothing is out of place. Constructed from tantalum and stainless steel, and powered by a quartz movement, this the ref. 56175TT caters to the original ideology that spurred the Royal Oak's design as an everyday luxury sports watch, but with a twist in that it swaps the Royal Oak's typical stainless steel for a metal seldom seen in watchmaking, and most commonly seen in the aerospace industry. Fitted with a dark grey petite tapisserie dial displaying just the time, the Royal Oak ref. 56175 is understated due to its lack of exuberant functions while retaining its iconic design and strong presence on the wrist. Launched as a limited edition variant of the ref. 56175, the ref. 56175TT boasts just 2000 pieces as part of its reference, and so this is a truly rare occasion to add this piece to your collection.
THE DIAL Boasting a grey petite tapisserie dial to match the dark grey of its tantalum construction, the ref. 56715TT is a wonderful example of how to make a monochromatic design interesting. Furthermore, this example's dial has begun the tropicalization process, with some of its areas, particularly at its center and around 3 o'clock beginning to lighten.
THE CONSTRUCTION Made of the famously hard and corrosion-resistant metal tantalum and stainless steel, the ref. 56175TT features a two-tone aesthetic that is not often seen in watchmaking, with two shades of grey comprising of tantalum's dark blue-grey color and steel's all too familiar bright silver shine.
THE PROFILE Thanks to the Royal Oak's already thin design and the ref. 56175TT's quartz movement, this Royal Oak has an extremely flat profile that sits incredibly low on the wrist.
