Audemars Piguet In 2026

Yeah, AP didn’t really hold back in early 2026. They looked at their portfolio, pulled everything out, and said “yeah, let’s do all of it, but new.” Tiny quartz Royals. Colour-happy Offshores. A 38mm chronograph that finally got the respect it deserved. Openworked pieces that look (and are) super expensive. And then, out of absolutely nowhere, a rectangular jumping-hour watch that looks like it time-travelled here from 1929.

Let’s break it down like normal humans.

The Royal Oak Mini - Tiny, Quartz, And Honestly Kind Of A Vibe

The Royal Oak Mini is back again, still at 23mm, still quartz, and still triggering the “but it’s quartz” crowd while selling extremely well. AP swapped the frosted cases for classic brushed and polished finishing this time, and honestly, thank you. The stone dials needed room to breathe.

You get two options. One is ultra-clean white mother-of-pearl in yellow gold. The other goes full stealth-luxury with black onyx in pink gold and diamond hour markers. No date, just pure jewellery-watch energy with Royal Oak DNA.

Is this haute horology? No. Is it pretending to be? Also no. This is AP saying not every watch needs to flex a tourbillon to be desirable. The quartz calibre is nicely finished, lasts forever, and keeps the case absurdly thin. Mission accomplished.

Prices land around €36,000 for the MOP version and roughly €43,000 for the onyx with diamonds.

Offshore Divers - AP Remembered How To Have Fun Again

The Royal Oak Offshore Diver got a colour refresh, and I’m glad someone at AP remembered that this line used to be playful instead of just angry.

Three new flavours. A deep teal that feels grown-up but not boring. A black dial with pink accents that absolutely knows what it’s doing. And a full-on turquoise option that is the definition of chef’s kiss.

Specs stay unchanged. Big case. Proper 300 meters of water resistance. Calibre 4308 doing its thing. These are loud watches that don’t apologise, which is exactly what an Offshore Diver should be.

Price sits around €30,000, which sounds insane until you remember it’s an AP Offshore and sanity left this conversation years ago.

Offshore Chronographs - Blue Ceramic And A Green Mood Swing

AP also updated the 43mm Offshore Chronograph with two new executions, and they’re both very “AP in 2026.”

One comes in the brand’s darker, more wearable blue ceramic with a warm-toned dial that somehow works better than it should. The other pairs titanium with black ceramic and a smoked green dial that will immediately divide the forums.

Inside is the in-house Calibre 4401 flyback chronograph, which is genuinely excellent and deserves more credit than it gets. These watches are big, heavy, and unapologetic. That’s the Offshore promise.

Prices land around €58,000 for the blue ceramic and about €42,000 for the titanium version.

The 38mm Royal Oak Chronograph - Finally Treated Like An Adult

This one matters.

For years, the 38mm Royal Oak Chronograph felt like the forgotten middle child. Great size, great proportions, but stuck with an older movement while its bigger sibling got all the in-house love.

Not anymore.

The new Calibre 6401 finally gives the 38mm its own modern, integrated chronograph movement. Vertical clutch, column wheel, better power reserve, cleaner date placement, and a sapphire caseback so you can actually see what you paid for.

No flyback function here, but I’ll happily trade that for thinner case proportions and better wearability. This is the Royal Oak Chrono for people who actually wear their watches instead of measuring wrist presence in millimetres.

The steel version comes in around €40,000. Pink gold jumps north of €78,000, and the diamond bezel version exists for people who don’t ask for prices.

Openworked Royal Oaks - Less Dial, More Flex

AP’s openworked watches continue to prove that skeletonising isn’t just about removing material, but rather about knowing what to leave behind.

The “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked now comes in titanium with Bulk Metallic Glass accents, which sounds like sci-fi nonsense until you realise it makes the watch lighter, harder, and shinier than it has any right to be. Same perfect 39mm proportions. Same Calibre 7124 doing openworked things beautifully.

Then there’s the 37mm Double Balance Wheel in yellow gold. Fully tone-on-tone, no rainbow nonsense, no frosting. Just dense, technical, unapologetic AP energy in a size that makes sense for smaller wrists without feeling like a compromise.
Prices are around €120,000 for the Jumbo and about €95,000 for the Double Balance.

Neo Frame Jumping Hour - AP Pulls A Hard Left And I’m Into It

This is the weird one. And I mean that as a compliment.

The Neo Frame Jumping Hour doesn’t look like anything else AP currently makes. Rectangular case. Jumping hour display. Trailing minutes. No Royal Oak screws anywhere. It’s based on AP’s actual 1920s history, which is nice.

The case construction is wild. The dial is bonded directly to the sapphire. The apertures float. The movement is derived from the Jumbo architecture but reworked into something completely different. This is AP showing off quietly, which is honestly their most dangerous mode.

At around €65,000, this watch will confuse people who only know AP for Royal Oaks. That’s exactly why it’s important. It feels like the start of something bigger, not a one-off experiment.

Final Thoughts - AP Is Stretching, Not Playing It Safe

What I like about AP right now is that they’re clearly not optimising for universal approval. Some releases are tiny. Some are massive. Some are nostalgic. Some are borderline alien.

That’s good.

2026 feels like Audemars Piguet reminding everyone that they’re not just the Royal Oak brand (yeah, even today, some people see them as that). 

They’re a watchmaker with range, history, and the confidence to drop a rectangular jumping-hour watch in the middle of an Offshore-heavy lineup and not explain themselves.

You don’t have to love everything here. But you have to respect the ambition.