In 2002, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet started a new variation of the watch that was even more advanced than the Offshore in terms of innovation. More than just an Offshore on steroids, this new timepiece became the brainchild of the manufactures most cutting edge discoveries, a vanguard of its most far-out theories. From the Audemars Piguet R&D lab, everything that can be applied to luxury watchmaking and that works and looks good would potentially make it into the Royal Oak Concept line. The first of its kind is the visually and technically ground-breaking Royal Oak Concept Ref. 25980AI. Ref. 25980AI proffers several new ideas to watchmaking. To begin, its case looks extremely hefty but is actually lightweight because its made of a cobalt-based alloy named Alacrite. It is also oxidation- and sulfidation-resistant, non-magnetic and stainless, with a surface hardness ideal for mirror polishing. Like many of the worlds most high-tech alloys and materials, Alacrite was initially developed for aircraft components but thanks to Audemars Piguet, it has broken into the haute horlogerie universe. Combined with a titanium bezel, this watch was powered by the Audemars Piguet hand-wound Calibre 2896, which remains visible not just through the sapphire case back but the front as well, because the watch has no dial. - Robb Report, July 6th, 2018