One of the best things about shopping for pre-owned watches is finding special editions, that were made in very limited quantity, from some time ago that aren’t on sale anymore. Finding that rare gem that you simply cannot buy new today is always an exciting moment. Which is why this pre-owned Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Pride of Italy edition is so intriguing.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is really the godfather of the steel luxury sport watches, as such a thing had never really been done until the Royal Oak debuted at the 1972 Swiss Watch Show (now more famously known as BaselWorld). So if you want an elegant steel sport watch that screams taste and class, there really isn’t a finer watch than the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. And, considering Italy is one of the most important countries in automotive history, bringing such amazing car companies, cars and races to the automotive world, what better Royal Oak to have as a car enthusiast than this Pride of Italy edition?
Only 500 of these were made in 2015 and all of them, obviously, have been sold. However, Govberg is selling one through its pre-owned watch program and it’s a stunning piece. The 41 mm stainless steel case is slim and sophisticated and is just the right size for any wrist. While it may not be as flashy as the massive Royal Oak Offshore model, fans of typically reserved German luxury cars would likely appreciate that. However, it does have impressive wrist presence, thanks to its 52 mm size, lug to lug. It’s also only 11 mm thick, so if you swap the rubber band out for a steel bracelet, it will fit nicely under the cuff of a dress shirt.
The Pride of Italy also happens to be a chronograph, with three blue dials housed in the silver “Grand Tapisserie” face. Little touches like white, red and green markers on the minutes subdial give it some pop of color. The blue rubber strap also makes the watch look fresh and different while giving it a sporty look and feel. I’m personally a fan of rubber straps on sport watches because they fit better than a stainless steel bracelet, while also being more secure during various activities, and are still incredibly durable. On a dress watch, not so much, but this Royal Oak is a sport watch, albeit an elegant one.
The movement in the Royal Oak Pride of Italy is Audemars Piguet’s Selfwinding Calibre 2385, which is a 37 jewel automatic movement with a 40 hour power reserve and an 18-karat gold oscillating rotor. Unfortunately, this has a solid caseback, so you don’t get to see the beautiful craftsmanship that’s gone into the movement. However, it is a sport watch and needs to be waterproof at up to 50m. While that depth rating doesn’t make it a proper dive watch, it’s plenty deep enough for pretty much any activity that isn’t deep sea diving. Audemars has been known to make very accurate, very high quality and very durable watch movements and this Calibre 2385 is no different.
This specific Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Pride of Italy still has some of its original factory warranty on it and comes with the original box and official paperwork, from Govberg. Right now, this timepiece is going for an impressive $24,500.00. That’s about right for a special edition Audemars, as it’s one of the more expensive and prestigious watchmakers in the world. However, that’s not even the cost of a full list of options for your average BMW 7 Series. So I think there’s a lot of BMW buyers who can afford this beautiful and impressive special edition watch.
