Hive Mind: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore “Bumblebee”

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore is a highly evolved beast. As a landmark AP model and a choice specimen among the now innumerable Royal Oak Offshore sub species, the Forged Carbon Ref. 26176FO.OO.D101CR.02, better known as the “Bumblebee,” combines many of the Offshore line’s best running refinements and upgrades in a boldly styled package that has been hailed as an instant classic.

From its origins as a design exercise in the early 1990s, the Royal Oak Offshore has become a franchise player for AP. The original was on the vanguard of the modern “large watch” movement when it launched in 1993, and it remains the standard in a market flooded with imitators. Following late 1990s mainstream success that verged on mania, the Offshore began to receive substantial mechanical, material, and aesthetic upgrades as the model entered its second decade.

As new competitors, led by Hublot’s Big Bang, began to challenge AP’s champion, the Le Brassus watchmaker responded with technology and refinement that had been somewhat lacking in the initial Offshores.

The Bumblebee incorporates all of these upgrades. As a 2009 model year debut, the Bee became the platform for AP’s regular production rollout of Forged Carbon case technology. Although the 2007 Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Team limited edition retains the honor as the first Forged Carbon Offshore, the Bumblebee is the model that made carbon an AP signature.

Unlike previous Alinghi and Offshore Boutique models with Forged Carbon cases, the Bumblebee combines the featherlike weight of a carbon case with the nearly indelible resilience of a ceramic bezel. On the original Alinghi, the nearly 1-pound weight advantage of the carbon model over the gold variant was offset by the tendency of the carbon bezel to scratch, flake, and chip. On the boutique carbon edition of 2008, a steel bezel remedied this flaw, but the steel bezel suffered the same vulnerability as all Offshores since the 1993 original; the beautifully finished metal scratches easily.

With the Bumblebee, AP exorcised the demons of carbon and brushed steel bezels. An early application of AP’s ceramic, a metallic and inorganic compound with sapphire-like scratch resistance, the Bumblebee’s bezel will hold its grain, polished facets, sharp angles, and matte segments. Common insults such as car seat buckles, doorknobs, accidental brushes with walls and handrails will not affect a ceramic bezel any more than they would a sapphire crystal. Short of a catastrophic knock or direct contact with a diamond tool, ceramic is a set-it-and-forget-it finish.

AP retains the classic white gold hexagonal bezel bolts that have been an Offshore and Royal Oak trademark since Gerald Genta’s 1972 original.

Having conquered the primary challenge of the bezel, AP invested the ‘Bee with all of the advantages inherent in carbon. Unlike most Offshores, which feature a mass commensurate to their size and wrist presence, the Bumblebee feels like the gossamer aerospace components from which its technology derives. While precious metal Offshores have been measured between 448 and 800 grams (almost two pounds!), the Bumblebee registers only 115 grams on the scale. For perspective, that’s only 15 grams more than a 34mm stainless Rolex Datejust. Due to the low mass, the Bumblebee opens the door of Offshore ownership to individuals who may have harbored reservations about the feel of its burly metal predecessors.

The Forged Carbon material consists of a multi-directional carbon composite that is mixed with resin, compressed under extreme pressure to evacuate air bubbles and excess resin, and heat-cycled to cure the matrix. Due to the fact that actual carbon strands comprise the body of each Forged Carbon case, no two ever will set and cure with the same external pattern of fibers and highlights. Literally each Forged Carbon Offshore is a unique piece.

Moreover, the material is extremely resilient and disguises scratches better than any metal. While AP confronted initial challenges with finely edged carbon bezels, the rounded cases of Forged Carbon models have proven to be robust over seven years of consumer use. Due to the chaotic swirls, grain, and overlap of the visible carbon strands, the Forged Carbon absorbs and hides minor scratches in a way that the polished and brushed metal Offshores cannot. Long considered the Achilles’ heel of the elaborately finished Offshores, scratches are a virtual non-issue for the carbon/ceramic tandem of the Bumblebee.

Watchuwant.com’s Bumblebee represents the second “flight” of the Forged Carbon ‘Bees. Whereas the dial of the first 157 Bumblebees was a transitional piece and featured non-illuminated numerals, subsequent units such as ours with a reference number ending in “CR.02” feature the later Luminova-coated Arabic numerals. This arrangement creates a far more useable watch that is in keeping with the Offshore’s ever-ready image.

Inside the case, the Bumblebee benefits from another AP refinement: the Offshore line’s first manufacture movement. From 1993 to 2007, all production Offshore chronographs used variants of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibers 888 and 889 base movements driving a Dubois-Depraz (DD) chronograph module. While these were exemplary workhorses, their presence suggested a lack of original engineering that raised eyebrows in a product of the Offshore’s stature.

As of 2008, AP began transitioning its Offshore line to the in-house Caliber 3126 while retaining the DD3840 chronograph module. Each Bumblebee incorporates this enhancement relative to previous Offshore chronographs, and the transformation is substantial.

Each 365-piece Cal. 3126 features mechanical upgrades over the previous 2126 and 2226 base movements. While the latter two featured power reserves of 45 and 40 hours, respectively, the 3126 boasts a robust autonomy of 55 hours between windings. In order to extend that duration without attention on the part of the user, an automatic winding system with a 22-Karat gold rotor and bidirectional coupling is incorporated. Critically, this system in the 3126 utilizes zirconium-based ceramic ball bearings to minimize friction, eliminate the need for lubricants, and ensure maintenance-free rotor operation in perpetuity.

Audemars Piguet used the clean-sheet opportunity afforded by the 3126 to tailor it to suit the Offshore Forged Carbon’s rough-and-ready image. Discarding the balance “staff” of the old JLC base movement, AP incorporated a true dual-anchored balance bridge. This arrangement offers superior insulation from shock and cyclical vibrations that can affect accurate timekeeping. Moreover, the stability of the balance was upgraded through the use of a true free-sprung architecture. Instead of utilizing a lever index (rate adjuster) that could be knocked out of position by shock, AP implemented a screwed-down regulator that is set by the watchmaker and locked in place during consumer wear.

In order to make fine adjustments while in service, watchmakers can fine-tune the rate of the balance wheel by adjusting the variable-inertia balance blocks that sit on the rim of the balance wheel. These petite masses can be turned infinitesimally in order to change the balance wheel’s moment of inertia; they resist displacement due to shocks. Additional refinement over the JLC predecessors comes in the form of a stop-seconds feature (hacking device) so that the watch can be synchronized precisely with a reference time such as an online atomic clock.

Fit and finish quality of the Bumblebee’s 3126 represents a quantum leap over the 2126/2226 tandem. The first feature that strikes a viewer is the 22-Karat winding rotor, which is blazon with an engraved coat of arms for each of the Audemars and Piguet families. This is no empty gesture; AP is the only major watchmaker in Switzerland still owned and governed by the founding families.

Unlike the austere finish of the old movements, the new in-house base caliber features rich machined perlage on the base plates and linear Côtes de Genève on the bridges. Inverted snailing punctuates the space between the crests of the côtes. The screw heads are mirror-polished, their slots are chamfered, and both screw and jewel sinks are treated to the same degree of polish as the edges of the bridges. Concerning the bridges, their edges are diamond graved to remove burrs and polished to a shine.

In terms of style, the Bumblebee is in a class by itself. Alternately known as the “Kill Bill” (think Uma Thurman/yellow suit) and the “Bumblebee” during its first months on the market, the latter nickname stuck around for the long haul. Blame the Transformers franchise (think yellow Camaro). The combination of yellow accents on a host of black tones is beyond striking; it’s riveting. The matt black of the bezel face contrasts sharply with the polished black gleam of the bezel’s shoulder facets and the waffle-like “Mega Tapisserie” dial.

AP’s signature Offshore hornback alligator strap continues the theme of sharp contrast. Yellow double stitched thread binds the rugged alligator leather to a supple inner lining of suede, and a titanium deployant clasp with matte finish maintains the Forged Carbon’s holistic approach to mass reduction. While the strap is not water resistant, the watch is rated to 10 ATM/330 feet, and the case lugs are compatible with AP’s accessory rubber straps for aquatic use.

This Forged Carbon Royal Oak Offshore chronograph is available from watchuwant.com with a comprehensive set of dealer documentation, technical manuals, and the original boxes.

As with all discontinued models, the Bumblebee effectively became a “limited edition” after model year 2013. As the pipeline of remaining units begins to run dry, competition for this celebrated model is likely to escalate. One of the truly memorable designs in AP and Offshore history, the Bumblebee also incorporates the best of AP’s materials and mechanical savoir-faire. In short, this Bee is a breed apart.