Black Panther stars in Marvel and Audemars Piguet’s limited edition watch collaboration: only 250 of the superhero-themed timepieces will be released

Apr 11 , 2021

François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet, talks about the creation of the Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon. Photo: Audemars Piguet

The Royal Oak Concept ‘Black Panther’ Flying Tourbillon took two years to realise and will boast a three-dimensional, sculpted version of the Marvel character

Other Marvel and Avengers references will follow, with the next timepiece due to be launched in 2024 – and the Hulk might be a strong favourite

When François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet, teased the brand’s upcoming collaboration with Marvel at a digital press conference on March 18, nothing about the watches was revealed. Bennahmias said he spent more than a decade trying to realise this partnership without any success – until friend and actor Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine in The Avengers films, made a phone call to Marvel on his behalf.

Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias and actor Don Cheadle. Photo: Audemars Piguet

But Bennahmias did share a few details that may have been clues to what the watch would look like. Among them was a reference to Gérald Genta’s character watches from the 1980s. The legendary designer’s instantly recognisable timepieces seamlessly integrated high street pop culture and haute horology, putting Mickey Mouse right alongside retrograde minutes and jumping hours.

Genta himself has a long history with Audemars Piguet- the house’s flagship watch, the Royal Oak, was Genta’s design and released in 1972.

With this important name-drop, the Royal Oak as the canvas for this collaboration was a logical guess. But the unveiling proved otherwise.

Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon. Photo: Audemars Piguet

The Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon in 42mm, according to Bennahmias, was the obvious and only choice.

“We did not in any way want to just print a character on the dial and make this a gimmicky effort. We put all our know-how together to make this something fully Audemars Piguet,” Bennahmias says of the 250-piece limited edition reference. The Royal Oak Concept, with its bolder case and more experimental history, had been the canvas for Audemars Piguet innovations since 2002.

That also meant know-how in both movement-making as well as decorative savoir faire. The Royal Oak, as iconic as it is, simply wasn’t up to the job.

“The character has volume and layers to it. Because we needed to create not only something that would fit the diameter of the dial, but also something with depth. We had to go with the Royal Oak Concept.”