Audemars Piguet’s stunning Black Panther Flying Tourbillon watch pays tribute to Wakanda’s King





No, it isn’t powered by vibranium…

Luxury Swiss timepiece brand Audemars Piguet surprised us this week with the release of the Royal Oak “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon, a watch that’s decidedly Wakandan in its spirit and sports a crouching King T’Challa on the watch’s face, poised right above a glorious tourbillon. Created in partnership with Marvel, the watch features a 42mm body made from sandblasted titanium with a black ceramic bezel, within which sits the watch’s crown jewel – a miniature figurine of the Black Panther crafted from white gold before being hand-engraved and meticulously painted with stunning attention to detail. For the watch aficionado, however, there’s also a flying tourbillon located right under King T’challa, complete with the Audemars Piguet logo.

The Royal Oak “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon looks a lot like something Shuri would cook up in her Wakandan lab. It uses the signature black, purple, and silver color combination, while also using textural elements and patterns that help it look the part. The hands on the watch face closely resemble the fang-necklace seen around the Black Panther suit’s neck area, while the exhibition back uses a low-poly pattern quite similar to the one seen in the film’s artwork. The miniature figurine on the front looks stunningly realistic, with a laser-engraved microtexture on the suit, while the rest of the details are hand-carved and hand-painted to absolute perfection. Adding dynamism to the front of the watch is that tourbillon, which completes one full rotation every minute. Flip the watch over and its exhibition back showcases an in-house 3Hz hand-wound caliber 2965 movement with a 72 hours power reserve. Glareproofed sapphire crystal panels sit on the front as well as the back, and give the watch 50m of water resistance. The watch comes affixed with a purple rubber strap, and you can even grab yourself an additional black strap, swapping it out to give the watch a more serious demeanor.

The Royal Oak “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon was unveiled at an online charity auction hosted by Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias and actor Kevin Hart, and a special one-off 18k white gold version of it racked up a final asking price of $5.2 million. If you don’t have that kind of walking-around money, Audemars Piguet is producing a further 250 units (made from titanium) for sale across its various retail stores with a slightly more modest price tag of $162,000.

Designers: Audemars Piguet X Marvel

Limited to just 250 pieces, the watch retails for a cool $162,000 a pop and is available upon appointment. I guess you’d have to be Wakandan royalty to be able to afford these.

The Black Panther miniature figurine comes realized in white-gold. There’s a video on AP’s website that showcases the intricate process behind how specialized artisans hand-carve and hand-paint each Black Panther miniature.

The back reveals the stunning hand-wound caliber 2956 movement powering the timepiece (sorry, no vibranium included!) enclosed under a stunning scratch-resistant sapphire crystal panel.

McQueen, Gatsby and Rearden Flying Tourbillon Watches

With BaselWorld just round the bend, we are seeing a lot of innovative watches making an appearance. The ones that really get me ticking are the ones with movements that are special. For example the three new editions to the Project 2 Watches by Refined Hardware: McQueen, Gatsby and Rearden Editions. All three of them host a Flying Tourbillon and come in three distinctive versions.

In horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement that aims to counter the effects of gravity. This is done by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage, to negate the effect of gravity, especially when the timepiece (thus the escapement) is stuck in a certain position. Rather than being supported by a bridge, or cock, at both the top and bottom, the flying tourbillon is cantilevered, being only supported from one side.

The McQueen Edition PVD Black Tourbillon, The Gatsby Edition Steel Tourbillon and The Rearden Bronze Tourbillon are all limited to 33 pieces only. The watches are on a made-to-order basis only and really very exclusive.

Specs for the watches include a 42-hour power reserve, Sapphire crystal cover and 45 mm case. You can pick your choice of bracelet as it depends on each variant, however the watch comes in sexy steel hinged, pure carbon fiber box!

McQueen Edition Specs: Manual wind flying tourbillon with a silver hand perlage finish, black PVD finished case that is finished in steel, black ion plated grade 5 titanium, water resistance – 5 atm, adjustable PVD steel mesh or Black American Alligator strap.

Gatsby Edition Specs: 316l Stainless steel case paired with an adjustable steel mesh or Black American Alligator strap. Rest is same as the McQueen Edition.

Rearden Edition Specs: Manual wind flying tourbillon with a gold hand perlage finish, untreated pure bronze case fitted with a 35 mm sapphire crystal. Rest is same as the McQueen Edition.

Designer: Refined Hardware [ Buy it Here ]

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(McQueen, Gatsby and Rearden Flying Tourbillon Watches was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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