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Dive Deep: Audemars Piguet

July 25, 2011

The Royal Oak Offshore Diver by Audemars Piguet

If you've got a secret mission, this is the watch for you. The stainless steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver ($17,000) is water resistant to 300 meters and resistant to extreme pressures, shocks and magnetic phenomena. A diver's watch in all its pristine simplicity, it is equipped with the 278-part Manufacture Audemars Piguet self-winding movement: Calibre 3120. Built according to the NIHS Swiss watch industry norms that comply with international diving codes, the Royal Oak Offshore Diver is equipped with a host of features and functions that qualify it to be a dive watch:

Time preselection device: It features a dive scale on an inner rotating dial ring that is activated via a unidirectional click mechanism linked to the 10:00 crown. In compliance with the 92-11 norm, the device features a minutes scale on which five-minute periods are clearly highlighted.

Visibility: The time measured on the inner dial ring and the movement operating indication must be readable in the dark from a distance of 25 cm. The watch meets this requirement thanks to the luminescent coatings.

Water tightness and resistance to salt water: The 92-11 norm demands water tightness to at least 100 metres. The caseback screws, the intermediate bolts and the distinctive Royal Oak Offshore hexagonal screws seal the case as securely as a submarine hatch—to 300 meters.

Antimagnetic property and resistance to shocks and thermal variations: The movement of the Royal Oak Offshore Diver is protected by an antimagnetic strongbox-type case construction.

London Jewelers, 47 Main St., Southampton, 287-4499

Read more about watches from our timepiece editor Roberta Naas at atimelyperspective.com.