Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Juan Pablo Montoya Limited Edition Luxury Watch Showcase

http://www.thewatchbox.com The 2004 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Juan Pablo Montoya Limited Edition was an instant classic. Today, the “Montoyas” are acknowledged as landmark models in the AP Offshore series. With only 5oo produced in rose gold and 1,000 units in titanium, these are established collectors items and investment-grade high horology. Their broad case shoulders and rectangular chronograph pushers represented the first significant break with the design language of Emmanuel Gueit’s 1992 Offshore concept. A new generation of Audemars Piguet art department talent led by Octavio Garcia and advised by no less a tech authority than Richard Mille updated the original Offshore with an infusion of motorsports motifs and square-jawed charm. While the 44mm case and rectangular chronograph pushers now stand as fixtures in the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore lineup, the Montoya was the first of this burlier breed. In fact, the Montoya in both gold and titanium owns a series of Audemars Piguet “firsts.” While AP now has issued several “Driver Edition” F1 models, only Juan Pablo can claim to have received the honor first. Today, carbon has become a staple of the Offshore lineup, but the AP-JPM pair overcame the watch industry’s reluctance to use non-metal components in luxury watch cases. The JPM also inaugurated the use of display casebacks on the Royal Oak Offshore series; before Juan Pablo, AP’s fine finish sat entombed within a double-metal case. More than a l