Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold

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Photo: Hannah Khymych

Subtlety has always defined Audemars Piguet’s approach to adapting its highly successful Royal Oak model for women, as the company has discovered that many women appreciate the design’s angularity and contrasting finishes just as much as men do. But with this recent variation, the Swiss manufacturer has imported an Italian surface finish that lends a pronounced feminine air while still operating within the model’s established design language. Working with the Florentine jewelry designer Carolina Bucci, Audemars Piguet has adapted a gold-hammering technique to watch production, where finishes must be applied in a specific sequence to protect the different surfaces. Similar to the steel-brush frosting that was once applied to movement parts, the treatment’s relatively deeper indentations have a distinctive light-catching effect, but their scale must be carefully controlled to retain suppleness in the bracelet links. The finish turns the Royal Oak Frosted Gold (available in two sizes and color options) into a rare all-gold jewelry watch—yet another achievement in the model’s long history. 212.688.6644 (about $37,700–$51,700.