Tropical Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Triple Calendar 25807ST

Before Instagram, before Hodinkee, and before the small case trend, there was the Royal Oak Offshore. While often ridiculed, there can be no denying that the Offshore was hugely influential to modern watch design. Although often avoided for its size, this Offshore is no Stallone Panerai. At just 38mm, I think the 25807ST deserves a second chance with fresh perspective. If you can truly approach this Offshore with tabula rasa, I suspect you’ll find it more attractive than you might’ve imagined. That is particularly true of this beautiful, tropically dialed example.

The 25807ST was created to celebrate the new millennium, taking the modern Royal Oak Offshore design and fusing it with the traditional triple calendar complication. Running seconds have moved into a petite-subdial and a large date hand points to a new date track. The model was limited in production to two years, but not limited by number. This isn’t a watch that’s going to get you bundles of respect from hardcore collectors and that’s precisely why I love it. This is currently a slightly-abandoned lovechild of AP and one I feel that could be extremely collectible in years to come. Even if it isn’t, something about the familiar Offshore case and foreign triple date windows works for me. I’m just hoping that by the time I’m in a position to add mine to the box that you all haven’t made them unobtainium.

This example is a particularly special one. The earlier production pieces featured the first style of Offshore dial production technique. These go very, very tropical and settle into a rusty-bronze over time. You won’t find many this evenly faded and for that reason alone this Offshore was worth the feature. The case and bracelet are equally attractive and quite unmarked. It comes without a box but with an extract of archive from AP.

Find this tropical Offshore Triple Calendar here from Nautilus Watches for an undisclosed sum.