For Sale Men's Affordable Replica Audemars Piguet City Of Sails

Alacrite was only used for one watch ever created by Replica Audemars Piguet City Of Sails but both the timepiece in question and the material itself was cool as hell. It is specifically a cobalt based material that is highly resistant to oxidization and corrosion. It was originally designed for aerospace applications, in particular components for turbine engines. But the other benefit to the stainless super alloy is its high surface hardness, which allows it to be mirror polished. When the 2002 Audemars Piguet Concept was first launched it was the brands first definitive step into futurist watchmaking. It utilized materials that all came from aerospace or F1: titanium for its bezel, Kevlar for its strap and Alacrite for its case.

As its movement was developed simultaneously for the Richard Mille RM 02, both watches had torque indicators for the mainspring a dynamographe in AP speak, and gear selectors for neutral, winding or hands. The Concepts tourbillon featured an electro eroded spring type bridge that was meant to provide added shock resistance. While alacrite was not used again, it opened a door to the future that Audemars Piguet stepped through with confidence.

Carbon fibers unbeatable strength to weight ratio has revolutionized every performance sport from F-1 to bicycling to tennis to yacht racing. It is used in applications as wide ranging as car chassis to the mast in the Americas Cup boats. So the idea of using carbon fiber as the case material to create an ultra light, super strong high luxury watch was a goal multiple manufactures were chasing in the early part of the new millennium. Audemars Piguet got there first with a technology called forged carbon fiber.

The genesis of the forged carbon case came from a trip made by former Audemars Piguets CEO Georges-Henri Meylan to a trade fair for the aerospace industry. There he caught wind of something extraordinary. He explains, There were companies specializing in creating carbon fiber parts utilizing a forged carbon technology. We thought that this could have applications to make unique, ultra light weight high performance watch cases.

But rather than outsource forged carbon cases AP made the daring move of building an in-house carbon case making facility. There a team was assembled including Julien Stervinou, a young carbon fiber specialist who was previously building helicopter parts using this technology, and Yves Leuba, an experienced project head from AP.

The forged carbon procedure goes like this: carbon is first cut into precise quantities. The type of carbon fiber is specifically sourced to incorporate the correct blend of carbon and resin. It is then placed into a mold, heated and compressed. The result are cases that emerge almost fully formed. Says Stervinou, The only additional processes we need to do are some milling for the screws, for the strap and in a few other places.

In 2007, the worlds first forged carbon timepiece was made by AP to commemorate sponsorship of the Swiss team competing in the Americas Cup. The resulting watch named Alinghi Team Royal Oak Offshore, and featured a regatta timer (basically a countdown function) and was made in a run of 1,300 watches.

But soon other versions of carbon fiber Offshores emerged including one of our favorites, the Bumblebee, bestowed this evocative sobriquet thanks to its yellow and black color ways. The Bumblebee also features a ceramic bezel, one of the earliest use of this material, which is almost totally scratch proof.

Next to diamond, ceramic is the hardest material on earth. Its incredible strength makes it the material of choice for the protective plates found in high tech bulletproof vests. Indeed, ceramic armor is so effective that during Desert Storm, not a single British Challenger tank reinforced with ceramic was lost. Since Audemars Piguets unique eight-sided bezel is positioned in such a way that it is vulnerable to scratches, itmade absolute logic to eventually utilize the material for this element.