There is no denying that Grammy-winning musician John Mayer is a huge watch nerd, with impressive collections of Rolexes and Patek Philippes, all of which he possesses a good knowledge of their provenance and special traits. In his possession also are several Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept complicated watches, which he loved because “that original buzz when you first get the watch when it comes to AP’s technical pieces, it never goes away.”

The fan has now been elevated to co-designer of an Audemars Piguet timepiece, namely the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar, a limited edition of 200 pieces. It is also the last Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar to be powered by Calibre 5134, an ultra-thin movement that has been equipping the manufacture’s 41mm perpetual calendars since 2015. With no adjustment required until 2100 and a 40-hour power reserve, it is based on Calibre 2120, which equipped the thinnest self-winding perpetual calendar watch during the height of the quartz crisis. 

Working together with the Audemars Piguet team, Mayer came up with a “crystal sky” dial, its deep blue shade enhanced with an embossed motif composed of irregular shapes resembling crystals. The calendar sub-dials come in matching PVD blue with white indications. The hour markers and hands are crafted in white gold, lending a perfect contrast against the blue. 

Mayer also reimagined a couple of details: the standard red for ‘31’ date numeral is now in white, and the numbers appear in stepped style to distinguish them from the adjacent ‘1’. The periphery week indicator is in light blue, so that “it could fall back into the dial when simply reading the time but easily be found when looking to read the week complication,” explained Mayer.