Review of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 42mm (Navy Theme)
Today we are looking at the Audemars Piguet Navy Theme 42mm Royal Oak Offshore. While this is a review for the Royal Oak Offshore Navy model, much of what we discuss applies to the entire 42mm Royal Oak Offshore line. So, if you are curious about 42mm Royal Oak Offshores in general, this has everything you need to know.
A Brief History of the Royal Oak Offshore
The Royal Oak Offshore was first released in 1993.
A young, 22 year old designer by the name of Emmanuel Gueit created the Royal Oak Offshore.
Audemars Piguet, knowing that the young Emmanuel Gueit was highly talented and understood the modern buyer, asked him to design a more trendy and sporty version of the Royal Oak that would attract a younger audience.
That’s exactly what they got.
Emmaneul Gueit produced an everyday, rugged, big steel sports watch, which, upon release in 1993, became an instant classic among contemporary high-end watch collectors.
The Royal Oak Offshore has such a cool design. It pulls DNA from the Royal Oak, but is clearly its own breed. The Royal Oak Offshore is one of the most recognizable watches the world has ever known.
A Luxury Sports Watch Through and Through
Being that the Royal Oak Offshore is 15 millimeters thick, which is a very deep watch, especially when comparing it to the Royal Oak, it obviously wasn’t intended to be worn with a suit or formal attire. It won’t fit under a dress cuff.
The Royal Oak Offshore is a watch for casual occasions, like sailing a yacht, hanging out with friends, or even hitting the gym.
While the Royal Oak is a sports watch, it’s not that sporty when you look at the design. It is durable, but aspects of the watch, like the bracelet, are scratch magnets. With the Royal Oak Offshore, you get a strap (on most models) and just an overall more robust watch that is ready for high impact activities.
42MM ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE REVIEW (NAVY THEME)
Let’s go over the individual parts of the watch, as this magnificent timepiece deserves a close inspection.
42mm Steel Case
42mm might be the formal measurement but its actually 54 millimeters from lug to lug.
What’s more, in terms of diameter, the 42mm case size doesn’t include the pushers and crown. With that, the watch extends out another 5 millimeters, thus increasing the total case diameter.
Needless to say, it is quite a big watch. The wrist presence of the 42mm Royal Oak Offshore is certainly greater than watches like the Submariner or the Daytona, both in terms of size and finishing.
However, due to the depth of the watch and the elegant design, it fits the wrist in a sophisticated, graceful way, much more so than the 44mm Royal Oak Offshore, which is the true definition of an oversized sports watch. The 42mm Offshore looks super nice on the wrist and doesn’t feel too big by any means. Even those who are more used to 40mm watches agree. This may be because your eyes get drawn to the dial immediately, so the other extremities of the watch take more of a backseat when looking at the watch.
Note: 42mm Royal Oak Offshores have the small silicon rubber pushers whereas the 44mm Royal Oak Offshores have the wide, sleek ceramic pushers. This is how you can instantly tell between the two when looking at pictures.
Classic Royal Oak Style Octagonal Bezel
The bezel is virtually the defining feature of every Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore. The case and bracelet have panache, but the bezel is effectively the face of its bodily structure.
The octagonal shape, which takes inspiration from the original Gerald Genta Royal Oak design, is reminiscent of the porthole on boats. Perfectly relatable to the name itself, the Royal Oak Offshore.
Unlike the Royal Oak, the Offshore features a bolder architecture with elements that are beautifully segmented. The bezel sits separately from the rubber bezel gasket which sits separately from the block of the case. However, the machine aesthetics of the three makes it all very unitary.
You have to love how Emmanuel Gueit also turned functional elements, like the bezel gasket, into aesthetic elements that play an important role in the distinct design. This is very innovative thinking, almost like an exhibition caseback that shows the movement. Modern buyer’s appreciate the raw detailing of high-end timepieces. There’s something just so fascinating about it all.
See the full sales listing for the Navy 42mm Royal Oak Offshore
NAVY MEGA TAPISSERIE DIAL
The numerals on the dial are really stylish. It’s a very unique design with how they hide some of the Arabic numerals behind the chrono sub-dials. This is a feature completely original to the Offshore line.
The Navy theme of the watch is defined by the subtle accents of navy blue, which include the sub-dials, hands, and the Arabic numerals (which appear almost black in pictures).
The navy features contrast with the white Méga Tapisserie dial, creating a beautiful aesthetic that is so very easy on the eyes.
The Méga Tapisserie dial features a large hobnail, waffle-like design, which is now the classic look of the Royal Oak Offshore. However, when the Royal Oak Offshore line first came out, the watches had a petitie tapisserie dial, which is somewhat similar in concept, but the squares that make up the texture and look of the dial were much smaller. The Mega Tapisserie, in our opinion, is much more suitable for the Royal Oak Offshore line, being that it is a big watch. The small squares just seem wrong now that we have the Mega Tapisserie in our lives. Anyway, all current Royal Oak Offshores use the Mega Tapisserie dials. The petites are a thing of the past.
This Mega Tapisserie is unique in that there is a lacquer finishing over the white dial. It sort of blunts out the hobnail texture of the Méga Tapisserie. It makes for a more subdued, smooth and soothing image, rather than other Méga Tapisserie dials which are highly detailed and deeply grained. This makes legibility a lot easier.
Overall, the Navy theme 42mm Royal Oak Offshore stands apart from the rest with its super nice contrast of white and blue. It is extremely easy to read in any light (plus, in the dark as it is fully lumed).
Chronograph Function
The main function of the Royal Oak Offshore is its chronograph. There’s a small seconds at the top below the 12 o’clock, chronograph hours at the 6 o’clock, and chronograph minutes at the nine o’clock.
One of the best things about the Royal Oak Offshore’s chronograph, when comparing to other luxury sports watch chronographs like the Daytona, is the ease of use. The pushers (which are navy blue on the Navy theme) are ready to go as they are, whereas watches like the Daytona you need to unscrew the pushers, which can be quite tedious. Oftentimes, you need to use a chronograph rapidly, so sitting around unscrewing it kind of defeats the purpose. There’s no such issue with the Offshore’s chronograph. It’s ready to go at all times.
What’s more, the chronograph runs amazingly and feels super crisp. The click of the pushers and action is extremely solid. You can really tell the difference from other luxury chronograph sports watches, as a lot of them feel a bit clunky and make weird noises. That’s what separates Audemars Piguet from other watch brands and why they are among the Big Three in Horology. The quality of their watchmaking is unparalleled.
As you can see, the traditional tachometer is there too, if you want to measure the speed of an object over a given distance.
CALIBRE 3126/3840 Movement
When the Royal Oak Offshore Navy came out back in the late 2000s, the biggest change from the older models was the movement. The Navy Theme Royal Oak Offshore is equipped with the newer AP Chronograph calibre 3126/3849.
The calibre 3126/3849 has 59 jewels, 365 parts and approximately 55 hours of power reserve. It is, of course, an in-house movement from Audemars Piguet, so it has all of the modern innovation, such as the Gyromax-like balance wheel, which relates to the variable inertia blocks on the balance wheel for adjustment. The movement is as robust as the watch itself. It is shock resistant and has great anti-magnetic properties.
What’s really interesting is how Audemars Piguet didn’t overlook the finishing of the watch even though it has a steel caseback (not an exhibition sapphire caseback like most 44mm Offshores). Even though the wearer can’t see the movement, they still gave it a meticulous hand-finishing. If you were to open up the caseback, you would see everything is magnificently polished. The “engine” inside this watch is absolutely stunning. It’s actually kind of a shame that it can’t be seen. That said, at least you know the movement is extremely reliable and precise. The chronograph functions better than almost any other chronograph we’ve played with and we play with chonographs all the time here at Diamonds By Raymond Lee in Boca Raton.
Straps
While this watch comes with a navy blue leather hornback strap, we have fitted it with a blue digi camo strap from Horus Watch Straps.
Why?
Because this watch is an everyday sports watch, and with that, you want to be able to jump in the water without thinking twice (especially us Floridians). With a leather strap, you are not going to want to do any water activities. Of course, it’s great to have the leather strap for certain occasions (we, of course, include it in the sale of this watch), but most times a rubber diver strap is the ideal option.
When it comes to aftermarket rubber diver straps, no one does it better than Horus Watch Straps.
Horus Watch Straps
Horus Watch Straps provides the perfect combination of function and fashion. The quality of the straps are as good as an OEM Audemars Piguet strap. The blue digi camo strap you see here is made specifically for Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 42mm watches. So, it integrates with the case flawlessly.
Benefits of Horus Watch Straps:
- Change up the look of your watch (it’s like a brand new watch when you change the strap).
- Extremely durable.
- Dust and hair resistant.
- Fade resistant.
- Super comfortable.
Related: Review of Horus Watch Straps
All in all, Horus Watch Straps look great, feel great and they are made to last a very long time. If you are going for a sporty look, this is what you want. And when you want to have a more classy appeal, just throw on the navy blue leather strap and you are good to go.
AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE 42MM NAVY PRICE
The Audemars Piguet Navy Royal Oak Offshore Stainless Steel Watch that you see here is pre-owned and perfect condition. We have it on sale for $18,250, which includes the original box, papers and two watch straps.
This is an absolute steal in steel. You want find a better deal on the 42mm stainless steel Navy Theme Royal Oak Offshore. You are basically paying what it is worth if you were to resell it, with just a small markup that we placed on top to be able to maintain our business. Our goal is always to give our clients the best possible price. This is an investment as much as it is an emotional purchase.
Do Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 42mm Watch Hold Their Value?
Among all of the luxury watch brands in the world, Audemars Piguet is in the top three for holding value. It goes Rolex, Patek Philippe, and then Audemars Piguet. Within the AP catalog, the Royal Oak and the Royal Oak Offshore obviously hold their value the best because these are their two most popular watches.
So, the answer is yes, they hold their value very well, especially stainless steel models like the one you see here.
Now, it goes without saying, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshores are pricey, but the price is justified for a few reasons…
Why are Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshores so expensive?
Far fewer Royal Oak Offshore 42mm are made than watches like a Yacht-Master, Daytona or any other Rolex sports watch. This Navy edition is particularly scarce as well.
Besides rarity, the excellent finishing, detailing, haute horology, and prestige of Audemars Piguet justifies the price. The craftsmanship of this timepiece is much higher level than other luxury watches, which includes Rolex.
In Conclusion
This watch is an everyday wear kind of timepiece. It is super cool, the color combos are stunning yet understated, and the wrist presence is unbeatable. The finishing looks magnificent when the light shines off it, almost like cut gems. It is exactly what you would expect from Audemars Piguet. Finishing is a matter of integrity and heritage at AP.
Lastly, as it is a thick watch, it will never let you forget you are wearing it. As such, you won’t tend to scratch it. Plus, the strap is a Horus Watch Strap, so you won’t have any durability issues there and you can jump in and out of the water without thinking twice like you would with the leather strap.
All in all, this watch is all about good times and carefree living.
See the full sales listing for the Navy 42mm Royal Oak Offshore