Review of AP Royal Oak Skeleton Rose Gold 15305OR + DSLR Shots!

[benlee]

My third Audemars Piguet watch has turned out to be my most exciting and enticing timepiece till date. After having own it a month, it is time for a review and a full DSLR shot coverage to do full justice to it’s beauty.

In this review, most of the close-up shots were taken with a Nikon 5100DSLR fitted with a Nikkor 105mm microlens. Others were taken using my new Fuji X-100S 35mm camera.




Overview


Skeleton watches have existed in horological history for eons. The art of skeletonization calls for stripping away the watch’s dial to reveal the beauty of the movement. High end watch makers like Audemars Piguet goes a step further by also extensively decorating the movement. In this case, a galvanized anthracite finish is applied to the movement parts. The end result is one extremely beautiful timepiece that is more a work of art then a watch. The reference for this watch is 15305OR which comes in a RoseGold case and leather strap. There is also a 15305ST which is in stainless steel and bracelet.





The Case and exterior





As this is a Royal Oak watch, the case of course comes in the by now iconic AP’s octagonal case designed by Gerald Genta. The case diameter is 39mm and the signature rose gold case has alternative brushed and polished surfaces all done by hand. The Rose Gold Case has the usual signature white gold hexagonal screws on the bezel and comes in a brown leather strap with a Rose Gold AP deployment buckle. I replaced the brown strap with a black strap. The case diameter is only 9.38mm, not quite as thin as the Royal Oak Jumbo but thin enough to look both elegant and very dressy.



The skeletonized movement




The movement is based on AP’s in-house Calibre 3120 movement, modified and skeletonized for this particular watch. The resulting movement is then named Calibre 3129. The movement consists of 253 parts and displays hours, minutes and seconds. The parts of the movement are all meticulously decorated by hand, and such skills required a trained watchmaker with considerably dexterity as the structure of the movement must be preserved despite the absence of a dial while also maintaining it’s reliability and accuracy.

Below are some further close-up of the movement








In normal use while the watch is running, one can clearly see the spinning balance wheel and a rotating wheeltrain. See pics below




When winding the watch, the mainspring coil tightens and become dense. Conversely, one can tell that the power reserve is getting low when the coil loosen. The watch has a power reserve of 60 hours. It is possible to over-wind the watch so one has to be careful, about 30 turns will do.



The watch hands are made of gold and have luminescent coating. The watch comes with it’s own 22K gold rotor which is also skeletonized with the AP logo. The finishing on the rotor is superb including even the hidden parts.











I did not do any accuracy test on the watch as ( it’s just my opinion ) I feel as long as the watch is not loosing a lot of time, I am not too obsessed with it loosing like 10 seconds a day or something like that. During my use, suffice to say, I find the watch accurate in telling time.



Build Quality and comfort


Suffice to say, the watch as expected of an AP, is extremely well made. If my impression serves me correctly, I would say the 15305OR appears to be slightly better finished than other Royal Oak gold timepieces. Under suitable lighting, the watch absolutely glitters and sparkles, including even the skeletonized face with all the parts reflecting surrounding light to create an extremely pleasurable viewing effect. The rose gold use in this AP has a very rich and warm tone. Interior lighting and outdoor sunlight brings out the best of this watch.












The strap that comes with the watch is in a honey brown strap but I changed it to a black strap to add some differentiation. Here’s a pic with the original brown strap






Negatives

No watch is perfect, and a common problem with the AP folding buckle is that it tends to press against the wrist bone on prolong wearing. To minimize this, I actually wear it slightly loose. Thus, it is not the most comfortable watch to wear and especially on prolong basis. However, that is also highly dependent on the bone structure of the wearer around the wrist. Some people might find this annoying and very uncomfortable while others don’t. However, sufficient people must have complained about it including in this forum that AP is phasing out the AP buckle and replacing them with pin buckles for their next generation ROOs and butterfly folding buckle for their bracelets.







The other negative is obviously that the watch is just basic hours, minutes and seconds and does not come with a date. It is my first and only watch in my collection that doesn’t have a date. It takes some getting use to for me but after a while, I hardly think it bothers me anymore. Watches without a date have an overall more pleasant symmetry appearance and so is this watch.

Lastly, this is not a watch that you want to wear for any rugged outdoor activity. Even after being extremely careful, I already started to notice some hairline scratches around the case. However none of them has caused or distracted me from the enjoyment of my watch. It is also a very eye-catching time piece and probably can be the star attraction in any WISers gathering or party. But if one wants to give the appearance of being low-key or understated, this is not the watch to wear.



Comparison with Patek 5205

The watch is now one of my firm favorite and I cannot decide if this is nicer or my Patek 5205R, whether appearance or movement wise. Maybe you can tell me?




I will just say they are both different.



Conclusion


I am very happy with this watch and I think it will have a permanent place in my collection. It will also be a great addition to anyone wanting a RG RO piece to add to their collection. I'll leave you guys with more parting shots. Thanks for reading.