If hedonism is synonymous with excess – and if books, films and rock stars have taught us anything, it very much is – then you can nicely fit watches up there along with Champagne, caviar and cocaine. They’re as much a status symbol as a bottle or five of Dom Perignon, and as over the top as bringing a supercar to the school run.
After all, what’s more excessive than a steel watch that costs upwards of £20,000? That’s pure watchmaking extravagance if ever there was such a thing, diamond-setting be damned. It’s a trend that started with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and, as James Buttery explores on pg. 49 is back with a bang thanks to some serious names in the watch world.
Still, it’s hard to beat the original, particularly as Audemars Piguet seems intent on eking out every ounce of cool it can from the Royal Oak. It’s a good thing that its latest openworked ode to haute horology shows there’s plenty of eking left to do, no matter how under-the-radar the watchmaker is about it. More about that on pg. 40.
