There’s a new AP in town, and it’s not the one you’re thinking of.
Over the last week, the internet has been busy exchanging hot takes on the Royal Pop, Audemars Piguet’s highly anticipated collab with Swatch, but over at the luxury watchmaker’s Le Brassus HQ, another hot collab has been waiting in the wings. Created in collaboration with Yoon Ahn and Verbal, the founders of Tokyo-based streetwear and jewellery label AMBUSH, the new 38.5 mm Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon is a very different breed of watch.
Limited to 150 pieces and priced at 176,800 CHF (approximately $310,000), the new 38.5 mm Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon is the latest in a series of a dozen Concept models that include collabs with Marvel’s Spider-Man and the artist KAWS, as well as groundbreaking horological creations like the Supersonnerie and Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT. In the tradition of these ultra-limited editions, the newest Royal Oak Concept combines the artistic vision of one of Japan’s foremost fashion duos with the advanced horological capabilities for which Audemars Piguet is known.
For those who haven’t been keeping tabs on the Japanese fashion scene, Yoon Ahn and Verbal are the creative genii behind AMBUSH, a Tokyo-based streetwear and jewellery label launched in 2008. Verbal, best known as the frontman of Japanese hip-hop group M-Flow, is one of Japan’s foremost hip-hop artists (remember the song “Tokyo Drift” from the Fast & Furious movie soundtrack? That was him). Yoon, meanwhile, is a celebrated jewellery designer and the Dior Men’s jewellery design director since 2018. As AMBUSH, the duo has earned the praise of A-listers including A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, and collabs with the likes of Nike and Off-White.
“The tourbillon cage represents the heart of the watch — the force that keeps everything in motion. Red evokes the Earth’s core: the origin point, the source of energy, and, ultimately, the beginning of how we measure time itself.”Verbal
The new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon watch is built on a 38.5 mm titanium case, the same compact size previously used in the 2024 Tamara Ralph Flying Tourbillon collaboration.
The dial is black aventurine with blackened 18-carat white gold hands filled with grey luminescent material, all the better to emphasize the flying tourbillon’s aluminum cage topped with an anodized red plate — a first for Audemars Piguet. “Red has always been a powerful colour for us,” Verbal says. “The tourbillon cage represents the heart of the watch — the force that keeps everything in motion. Red evokes the Earth’s core: the origin point, the source of energy, and, ultimately, the beginning of how we measure time itself.”
The new Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon by AMBUSH comes at an interesting time for Audemars Piguet. During a decade of explosive growth under former CEO François-Henry Bennahmias, it quadrupled its output and transformed from a respected indie watchmaker to one of the world’s most coveted luxury brands. Following Bennahmias’ departure in 2023, new CEO Ilaria Resta is tasked with stewarding Audemars Piguet through its next era. Between the new Royal Oak Concept and the much-hyped Royal Pop — not to mention other notable recent launches like the Neo Frame and Établisseurs collections — it’s already proving to be a rich one.
