No luxury watchmaker understands the art of the collaboration quite like Audemars Piguet. All the way back in 1999, AP worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger on a limited-edition watch for his movie End of Days. “It was the first Royal Oak Offshore that had a celebrity tie-in – it ushered in a whole new direction for AP,” Paul Boutros, the head of watches in America for Phillips auction house, once told me. Over the decades, the brand has continued to generate these inflection points, gathering momentum off of them like pinball bumper paddles. Jay-Z worked on his own AP in 2006, which kickstarted the love affair between hip-hop and the Royal Oak. LeBron James got the official link in 2015, too. Now, AP is moving the goalposts again with a wide-ranging collection made in collaboration with one of the world’s hottest fashion designers, Matthew Williams of Givenchy and 1017 Alyx 9SM.
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Williams and I spoke on a fittingly jubilant day in July – honks and cheers filled the background of our call as Paris celebrated Bastille Day. There’s a lot to be excited about in this collection, which is technically a collaboration between AP and Alyx. It's Audemars's first team-up with a fashion brand. While previous collaborators were invited to work on a single watch, AP let Williams really open up the throttle for this partnership. The pair created five new watches, including a one-of-one timepiece that will go up for auction to benefit two charities for disadvantaged children, Kids in Motion and Right to Play, at a release party in Tokyo. The collection comprises two Royal Oaks, two Royal Oak Offshores – the bulkier and often more technical brother of the standard RO – and the unique piece. Prices range from $73,500 to $111,500.
Typical of Williams’ minimalist style, the watches pare down AP’s designs to their most pure and luxurious essences. Throughout the collection, Williams did away with any markings for the subdials, leaving behind the small hands slowly floating their way around the dial. Williams also pivoted from AP’s famous tapisserie dial patterns in favour of what the brand describes as “vertical satin-finishing.” That all culminates in the simplest Royal Oak on the menu here: an 18-karat yellow gold watch with nothing but the names of AP and Alyx on the dial. In my opinion, it’s the crown jewel of the collection.
Williams said he was most psyched to work with AP’s different materials. The collection bounces back and forth between yellow and white golds, while the one-of-one combines yellow gold and stainless steel. “This is the first time we have dressed the Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore simultaneously, and it was a natural fit thanks to Matthew’s clean, contemporary design,” François-Henry Bennahmias, Audemars Piguet’s CEO, said in a statement. “That is the beauty of this collaboration: the synergies are such that we have taken each other to the next level.”
This isn’t the first time Williams created his own Royal Oak, either. Alyx released an unofficial collaboration in 2019, working with customiser MAD Paris on a sleek steel version of the watch. Even without AP’s cosign, the watch found fans in collectors like Phoenix Suns hooper Kevin Durant and rapper Lil Yachty. “I think that's how [AP] heard about us,” Williams said, “because there were so many requests for that watch.”
I spoke with Williams about designing his dream watch, paring the Royal Oak all the way down, and how designing sneakers and watches is more similar than you’d think.
GQ: I was having a conversation with someone just yesterday about how there's really nothing better than an all-gold Royal Oak. I saw the images today, and there it was: an all-gold Royal Oak. Let’s start with that piece.
Williams: It's funny you say that because over the years, whenever I get to see an all-gold Royal Oak in person, I'm always in awe. They’re just so beautiful. For me, it is a pinnacle of a watch. So that's definitely something that I wanted to create with the collaboration. I think the DNA of our two brands [Alyx and AP] have some synergies, which really came through in the watch. If you saw the watch that we did prior to these, where we customised an Audemars Piguet, it's really a continuation of that aesthetic.
How did that watch [which Williams customised with MAD Paris] lead to this official collection that you're doing with AP?
It just put us on the radar of the team at AP and allowed us to have a dialogue with them about doing something official using their resources and know-how. It was a great conversation starter.
How did you guys first get in touch?
We had mutual friends and we met for a coffee, just to meet and say hi, and then slowly continued the conversation and it developed into this project. But I think the watch was so visible. I know lots of customers were inquiring if it was official or not.
Last time you worked with MAD, and now you mentioned getting access to the full AP machine. How different was the process this time around in terms of designing the watch and working on it?
There was just much more opportunity for customisation and different finishes and parts of the watch that could be explored. We were working on a Royal Oak, but then also an Offshore. So that was fun to explore and learn about that watch.
You got to visit the factory, too. How did that change your perception of not just AP, but watches in general? Did you feel like you left with a greater respect?
Definitely. Meeting the master watchmakers, understanding how it takes a lifetime of studying to learn how to create watch parts and fix watches, the craftsmanship that's involved, the time and effort it takes to maintain and create these timepieces – it’s just really, really inspiring.
Was there something that you came away maybe most surprised by or excited about?
When I was learning more about AP – just their material development of ceramic and gold, and how they can match parts for watches that are a hundred years old – it was really incredible to see the modern craftsmanship that exists in the company. [There’s this] hunger and appetite and energy that's put into being innovative in the watch space, yet they still maintain the highest quality that exists in the world. That was really, really inspiring. I mean, the materials we used on these watches are common in the AP collection, but there are other watches that they do that use much more uncommon materials that they've developed, which is really cool.
These watches all share some striking design codes. What ideas were you trying to get at with this collection?
I really wanted to create something that was super timeless and elegant that I'd be happy to wear for the rest of my life. Obviously, wearing a gold watch can be loud depending on who you are, where you are wearing it, but I think the details are subtle and timeless.
Do you have a favourite in the collection?
It's hard to choose, but the one-of-one that we're going to be auctioning in Tokyo. That's pretty special that we were able to create something like that and have all the money go to a great cause.
How did you land on that two-tone design?
Well, we both just had discussions of what would make sense in the aesthetic of the collection, but be something that Audemars Piguet had never offered before. And so as they are much more familiar with the history of everything that's ever been done, it was a material suggestion for me to decide.
The other detail I think that immediately stood out to me is that on both the Royal Oak Offshore and the Royal Oak Chronograph, the subdials have been stripped of any markings and you're just left with the hands. How did you get to this design, and what do you love about the aesthetic here?
It was just reducing everything and letting the material and the directions of the brushing be the focus of the watch. So I think those minimal dials really supported celebrating the material.
AP obviously has so many different designs for the dial, whether it's the Grande, Petite, or Méga Tapisserie, etcetera. Did you go through different options before landing on this?
No. It was clear for me that it was going to be something that was more minimal like that. Some version of what we landed on, but I needed to understand what techniques were possible on the steel and gold.
Was the idea always to have it be a multi-piece collection like this?
Yeah, it was what AP was open to present and allow for the project. It's not a situation where one comes in and is demanding in that way. It was very much like, "We will allow you to work on these watches."
I do feel like I've heard Nike is similar in that way where they're like, "This is the shoe that we're going to have you work on." So maybe a process you're familiar with.
Yeah. I mean, I'm lucky at Nike where I'm one of the few collaborators that gets to make entirely new footwear and I give an idea that I'd like to create, and then we work around creating that. But that's [the result of] almost a decade of working with them. But for the most part, yeah, the collaborators are doing more [new colours and materials] on existing stuff.
Is that something you'd like to grow toward in watches, to be able to create your own model?
Yeah, well, I did give some suggestions to the team. Maybe if this goes well, they'll let me create some of those suggestions.
Did you feel like it was an advantage to come in as a fashion designer and maybe not be so steeped in centuries of horological history? You came in and had a fresh vision.
I don't know, but I definitely know that sometimes someone who’s not familiar with the usual loop or process of an industry can approach things differently, which can be helpful to the final outcome being unique.
As a fashion designer, what do watches mean for you in 2023? Do you feel like it's important now to have a watch as part of the creative offering that you're putting out into the world?
I think each person gets to decide that for themselves, but watches have always been something that I've loved. And I felt like there was a watch that I wanted to see exist. So I created that, and that's led to being able to work more in that space, which is really cool.
I do collect some other AP watches. I definitely would love to have a black and white ceramic. Those are really cool.
Do you feel like your clients at Alyx or even Givenchy are more interested in watches? Is there a greater demand for watches from you?
I'm not sure. I'm sure that there's supporters that are interested, and this project is also a way for people that just love watches to become aware of our brand. So I think it works on both sides. But yeah, to be honest, this price point is super high. Most people who buy Alyx aren't able to afford something like this. So it's really for a small group of people.
And how did you find the process of designing a watch different than designing clothes or sneakers? Are they similar at all or are they quite different?
I mean, there's a lot of similarities because it's just about ideas and conversation and then speaking with experts. So if I'm making a jacket, I'm speaking with the fabric supplier about doing something that's interesting and trying to innovate in that aspect. The same way, if I'm making a watch, there's a lot of conversation about what would be interesting, and that dialogue and suggestion and challenging one another leads the creative process to an interesting place.
I had maybe a more philosophical question, but I feel like you're the perfect person to ask this. What do you think the Royal Oak represents in broader culture? I feel like it's such an important watch for celebrities and people that you commune with. I feel like every rap song mentions the Royal Oak.
I definitely think it's one of those watches that have been created, that you can name on one hand, that has just remained relevant over the years and that everyone loves.
And we actually got to talk when you had customised the AP last time around. You had mentioned that it had always been your dream watch since the mid-2000s. What does it mean to, almost two decades later, have an official partnership and this whole collaboration coming out?
Again, very surreal that that's happening. I'm definitely pinching myself. It's pretty cool.
