Simply Abu Dhabi XIII

9 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Royal OakConcept GMT To u r b i l l i o n 4 4 An exceptional timepiece for avant-garde collectors and connoisseurs B right, white, sleek and powerful, the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillion brooks no compromise, either in technical or aesthetic terms. Its sculpted titanium case middle and integrated rubber strap combine with a white ceramic bezel to frame the highly architectural array of tourbillon carriage and second ‘GMT’ time-zone display inside – case and movement in perfect harmony. New for 2014, however, is the flash of pure white: an intricately machined upper bridge made of white ceramic – only possible now, thanks to Audemars Piguet’s ongoing advances in materials science. The Royal Oak Concept was first unveiled in 2002 as an avant-garde, 30th Anniversary tribute to Audemars Piguet’s legendary octagonal Royal Oak – the world’s first luxury watch in stainless steel, designed by Gérald Genta. His revolutionary design codes have persisted throughout the Concept series right through to the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon of 2011, with its ultra-light, ultra-resistant titanium case and black-ceramic octagonal bezel, push pieces and crown. This year’s Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon features a white ceramic bezel, crown and pushpieces instead of black, all heightening the contrast with the titanium case middle. However, in typical, trailblazing style, the Manufacture has gone one step further and incorporated ceramic into the movement itself, replacing the blackened upper bridge of the Calibre 2913 with white ceramic. As a result, the new Calibre 2930 is visually transformed, its dazzling, hourglass-shaped bridge further enlivened by the double symmetry of the tourbillon bridges and GMT display. White ceramic is about nine times harder than steel, meaning manufacture is a complex and lengthy process. Ceramic gives an exceptionally smooth appearance and displays extreme resistance to wear, but as a composite material that can be only scratched only by diamonds, it represents a daunting technical challenge. To give an idea, it takes around 8 hours to make the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon’s