5 Incredible New Watches From Audemars Piguet’s First Big Drop of 2026

A quick perusal of Audemars Piguet’s website conveys just how much emphasis is still placed by the maison on the Royal Oak. Of the five collections, three are derived from Gérald Genta’s famed design (Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, and Royal Oak Concept). In 2019, the brand launched Code 11.59, and in 2020, it introduced the Re[Master], a platform that reimagines vintage A.P. watches. This is why it’s particularly exciting to report that the brand is debuting a watch that fits neatly into none of these categories: Meet the new Neo Frame Jumping Hour (US$71,200), a model based upon a 1929 jumping-hour watch (pre-reference 1271) that combines Streamline Moderne design influence with cutting-edge horological technology.

Housed in a 32.6 mm x 34 mm 18-karat pink-gold case with a height of just 8.8 mm, it boasts horizontal gadroons on its flanks and features a black PVD-treated sapphire dial screwed directly into the case via its plate. Housing two apertures for the hours and trailing minutes, it immediately calls to mind 1920s/1930s classics such as Cartier’s Tank à Guichets and similar designs from the likes of Cortebert and IWC that make use of Joseph Pallweber’s famous jump-hour system. Unlike vintage designs, however, the Neo Frame is powered by an automatic movement—AP’s first self-winding jump hour movement, the cal. 7122, which ticks along at 4 Hz and boasts a 52-hour power reserve. Incorporating a special shock-absorption system to prevent accidental hour jumps, it’s beautifully finished with ample Côtes de Genève and satin brushing finishing.

If Henry Graves were alive today, there’s little doubt that the new 150e Héritage Pocket Watch (price upon request) would be at the top of his Christmas list. A (somewhat belated) celebration of the maison’s 150th anniversary, it takes the form of a spectacularly hand-engraved 50 mm platinum case with grand feu enamel dials to convey a truly stunning amount of information: 47 functions (spanning some 30 complications) include a flying tourbillon, a split-seconds chronograph with flyback capability, grande and petite sonneries with a supersonnerie, a semi-Gregorian perpetual calendar, and more. And that’s only half the story: Open its sapphire “secret” caseback and a Universal Calendar is revealed with solar, lunar, and other displays. It also displays 18 different indications, from basic calendar information (day, date, moonphase, etc.) to solstices, equinoxes, and even nine global cultural celebrations.

Powering the 150e Héritage Pocket Watch is a reconfigured version of the Calibre 1000, the movement powering AP’s RD#4. Featuring no fewer than 1,140 components and 90 jewels, it runs at a vintage-esque 90 Hz and features a 60-hour power reserve and redesigned crown pushers and correctors. Unlike vintage supercomplications, this one was constructed via the use of advanced 3-D modelling techniques, ensuring optimal ease of use and comfort. Limited to just two pieces and combining haute horlogerie with incredible hand-finishing, it’s the type of product tailor-made for super-collectors, titans of industry, and those who truly understand the meaning of “supersonnerie.”

In early 2025—just in time for the brand’s 150th anniversary—Audemars Piguet revealed a stunning new perpetual calendar movement, the Calibre 7138. By integrating various calendar functions into a single plane, it remained incredibly thin; and by means of clever engineering, it combined all adjustment functionality into the crown, making for an intuitive system that slotted neatly into both the Royal Oak and Code 11.59 collections. For 2026, AP is offering openworked versions, both of which are powered by the new Calibre 7139, a skeletonised take on the cal. 7138. By removing metal via the use of EDM (electric discharge machining) and decorating its componentry via satin brushing, chamfering, and other hand-finishing techniques, the movement’s architecture is laid bare for the wearer via a sapphire dial and caseback.

Housed in an 18-karat white-gold case with a black ceramic midcase, the 41 mm Code 11.59 version (118,000 CHF, approximately US$151,800) strikes a dressier tone with the addition of a black alligator leather strap. The Royal Oak version (180,300 CHF, approximately US$232,268), meanwhile, is composed of titanium with a high-tech BMG (Bulk Metallic Glass) bezel, caseback, and studs. The displays on both watches are organised in the European calendar mode, with the day of the week at 9 o’clock, the date at 12 o’clock, and the month at 3 o’clock, with additional peripheral week, moonphase, leap year, and 24-hour indicators rounding out the feature set. Able to account automatically for leap years, the watches—if kept wound—will next require manual correction in the year 2100. Both visually and mechanically spectacular, they represent the pinnacle of the AP’s longstanding dominance of the perpetual calendar complication.

For those who prefer their Royal Oaks in “stackable” form, two new executions of the Royal Oak Mini are sure to delight. Launched in 2024 and based upon the original model from 1997, the Mini is a “Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Genta”-esque take on the world’s favourite luxury sports watch, complete with a bangle-esque diameter of 23 mm and a long-playing quartz movement that boasts a whopping 94-month battery life as well as a switch function to deactivate it when not in use. But don’t let the battery inside fool you—these are no “fashion watches.” Made of 18-karat pink (US$46,000) or yellow gold (US$38,400), they boast a mirror-polished black onyx dial with diamond-set hour markers or a white mother-of-pearl dial, respectively, with hands in matching metal. The other classic Royal Oak highlights—screw-down octagonal bezel, integrated bracelet, octagonal crown—are present and accounted for. (Keep in mind that there’s no date window on either watch…but that’s what your iPhone is for.)

In case you haven’t heard, stone dials are in. But in the event that vintage Piaget isn’t your particular brand of vodka, you might want to check out the new Royal Oak Self-Winding Malachite Yellow Gold in 37 mm and 41 mm variants. Building upon the turquoise-dial watches released in 2023, they feature 18-karat yellow-gold construction with polished green malachite dials paired with yellow-gold applied indices and luminescent hands. While the 41 mm ($81,900) version is 10.5 mm thick and is powered by the brand’s Calibre 4309 automatic movement with 70 hours of power reserve, the 37mm ($75,700) version clocks in at 9.3 mm thick and boasts the Calibre 5909 with a 60-hour power reserve. Of course, each watch is unique due to the special crystalline structure of each slice of malachite. (Neither version has a date window, presumably to maintain as much of the beautiful stone’s integrity as possible.)