Credits: Article and images by Alexey Kutkovoy @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/11/11/30th-anniversary-of-the-audemars-piguet-royal-oak-offshore-pride-of-the-nation/
In this seventh installment marking the thirtieth anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore collection, of all the episodes (listed at the bottom of this article), this subject touches me the least positively. Why didn’t I just give up on this topic?
Firstly, as a trained scientist, I can’t simply refuse to describe a phenomenon that I don’t like for one reason or another.
Secondly, another question that attracts me to all this work is: how diverse and interesting is ROO? It seems to me that the name “Pride of [Nation],” even if it doesn’t seem very relevant to me, adds another facet to the image of ROO.
One could come up with another generic name for these limited editions, but I have a theory that François-Henry Bennahmias, who invented this series or at least approved its appearance, opted for a simple trick.
It’s usually a pretty transparent ploy when a good salesman says: if you buy this product, you’re a cool guy.
Or some other similar statement. For example: “you have good taste”, “you look great with it”, “your friends will certainly appreciate it”, “it raises your status, just show yourself off with a watch like this.” The trick obviously works well: a total of six limited editions of the “Pride of” were produced (well, seven if we count the RO “Pride of China’ edition), and the last one in 2019, when the series seemed to finally closed.
So this time we’re taking a closer look at the watches from the “Pride of” series, which means we’re talking about the embodiment of symbols of national pride in luxury sports watches.
It is to Audemars Piguet’s credit that this watch brand wisely and tactfully proposes to consider national pride as a feature of one’s inner worldview, to show one’s feelings with restraint and not to put national symbols in the foreground. On the dial, that is.
Let’s go back to 2005 when it all began. It is interesting that in the same year, a series of diving ROOs was introduced, and just a year earlier ROOs were dedicated to Formula 1.
2005. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore ‘Pride of Russia’ Ref. 26061BC.OO.D001CR.01, white gold, limited edition of 50 pieces
It is also interesting to note that the “Pride of” series began with an edition in honor of Russia. The initiator of the release of the first two Royal Oak Offshore ‘Pride of Russia’ models was the then head of Audemars Piguet’s American division, François-Henry Bennahmias, who is the current (as announced, until the end of December this year) CEO of the company.
Since Bennahmias has become the focus of our attention, let’s look at the results of his leadership in the context of the topic under discussion.
Since he has been at the helm of Audemars Piguet, he has purposefully reduced the number of limited editions produced for each occasion – not only for ROO, but also for all other collections – in favor of special boutique models distributed exclusively through the brand’s own or affiliated retail network.
However, it was Bennahmias’s idea that led to the introduction of the “Pride of” limited editions. The Russian theme was realized in two models: rose gold with a silver-plated dial (200 pieces) and white gold with a blue dial (50 pieces).
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Credits: Article and images by Alexey Kutkovoy @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/11/11/30th-anniversary-of-the-audemars-piguet-royal-oak-offshore-pride-of-the-nation/
