The latest collaboration involves Australian Haute Couture designer Tamara Ralph. Using the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon as a base, Tamara Ralph has dreamed up an impressive watch with warm shades of bronze, gold and brown, contrasting textures and loads of volume unveiled during her recent Spring/Summer 2024 runway show in Paris.

Destined initially as a one-off edition to celebrate the Royal Oak’s 30^th anniversary in 2002, the Royal Oak Concept or ROC became a collection in 2008 and has since become the brand’s platform for technical experimentation, blending innovative technical solutions with avant-garde design and cutting-edge materials and usually incarnated by beefy 44mm men’s models. The model chosen for Tamara Ralph’s creation is the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon, a 38.5mm model intentionally designed for women that debuted in 2018 and appeared with a frosted gold case in 2020.

The iconic eight-sided bezel of this 18k pink gold Royal Oak and the top surfaces of the hexagonal case have been given the special hammered treatment. Contrasting radically with the discreet sparkle is the pronounced polished slope of the bezel. Along with the satin-brushed flanks of the case, these contrasting textures highlight the dynamic architecture of the Royal Oak Concept. Echoing the shape of the signature hexagonal steel screws in the bezel, the six-sided pink gold crown has a translucent cabochon-cut sapphire in its tip.

As a fashion designer, Tamara Ralph plays with textures, volume, and colour, elements that are recreated here in the layered arrangement of concentric rings on the dial.

The tourbillon cage dictates the design of the dial. With its central diamond-set circle and four pink gold concentric rings, the motif of the tourbillon expands outwards to the dial in a series of stepped rings that gradually decrease in size as they reach the perimeter. Tamara Ralph emphasises each ring with a different colour, starting with brown for the ring closest to the tourbillon and ascending through bronze to pink and yellow gold. The graduated colours, transiting from dark to light, increase the sensation of depth and are decorated with a sleek sunburst satin finish.