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Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tour Auto 2010 ref 26363ST.OO.D003CU.01 Review

aflop

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** Some pictures in this review taken online and all credit to the owners where due **

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tour Auto 2010 was a commemorative piece for Audemars Piguet’s sponsorship of the historic Tour Auto Optic 2000 car rally and was AP’s fifth consecutive year sponsoring the event

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Reference number 26363ST.OO.D003CU.01, The Gen Royal Oak Offshore Tour Auto 2010 Chronograph was a limited production run of 60 watches, driven by AP’s selfwinding, hand-decorated Calibre 2326/2840. The tachymeter scale on the inner bezel ring, decorated with alternating black and white squares, evokes the checkered flag that is waved at motor-race finishes. The dial boasts red accents on 2 of 3 subdials which brings out the dial on the wrist along with the red tip of the main chronometer hand. The gen also comes with a perforated leather racing strap to match.

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The 42 mm-diameter brushed steel case is topped by a bead blasted bezel with polished steel bezel screws, while the screw-lock crown and pushers are in black rubber. The caseback is engraved with the “Tour Auto†logo and bears the engravings "Royal Oak Offshore – Série Limitéeâ€.

Interestingly enough AP, perhaps on the back of the popularity of this limited edition model subsequently decided to launch ref 26175ST.OO.D003CU.01 aka Gentleman Driver which looks almost alike to this model but with orange accents and the key difference apart from colour theme would be the colored tail of the main chronometer hands as opposed to colored tip on the 2010 Tour Auto. Of course there is also a very beautiful Franken AP Gentleman Driver in these waters too!

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I believe that the AP ROO Tour Auto 2010 is now out of stock from TDs so when I came across an opportunity to have one, I could not resist! After I picked up the Tour Auto 2010, my first impression was that the bezel and tachy were a gaudy, weird alternative to the regular 'safer' look of regular AP ROOs. Even when I got down to refinishing the case, rounding pushers, servicing the transfer gears, shaving the Tachymeter, hands and dropping in an ETA datewheel, I started off wondering if this piece was worth all the effort and money dropped into it...

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Fast forward to the completed project, I've been pleasantly surprised to see that it is fast becoming one of my favourite pieces for the moment (yeah that kinda lasts 3 minutes, I know I know..). Striking yet subtle on the wrist, it always gets a double take from people around (thankfully it's modded so hard to be called out),in part due to the interesting bezel structure highlighting the bezel screws and the red hints on the dial.

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All in all a very lovely project I'm pleased to have completed and another to tick off my AP bucket list! I hope you guys have enjoyed the pictures as much as I have. Feel free to shoot across questions or requests for more pictures!
 

MrBeasy

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8/2/16
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Nice one. I really like the bezel on this piece and the clewr crystal. Very diff to any other AP I own.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

tinitonsi

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My contribution, buddy


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Very nice write up, a lot of knowledge around here. Thx for a a sharing ;)
 

SuperLory

Well-Known Repist
22/10/15
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Nice watch bro and wonderful mods, but yeah I'm still not so sure about that bezel..love/hate feelings
 

ap@12

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i like the bezel and the watch,you did a great job on the watch
only thing i cant used to it are the shaved tachy's,i dont like it for me they look like eggs:unsure:
 

jpohl402

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@tinitonsi
That's what I was waiting for! :biggrin-new: ;)
Did you sell all your other frankens - So you will just have that franken and the Bee?
 

488GTB

You're Saying I Can Sell?
10/9/15
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Love the bezel. I'm more and more liking the red inserts in AP's.
 

kurwy

Known Member
31/10/14
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Thanks guys! Yeah I do admit it was tough to love but frankly I hardly notice the bezel now lol
I bet there's a lot of APs in SG. Great read.. btw 42mm fits you better than 44mm but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
 

tinitonsi

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@tinitonsi
That's what I was waiting for! :biggrin-new: ;)
Did you sell all your other frankens - So you will just have that franken and the Bee?
Almost like that... You know how it works here, buddy. The funniest part of this game is while you're seeking for parts, lol
Hunt, built, sell and start again, hunt, built, sell...
 

slaughterer62

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I think it is the checkerboard, finish-line flag motif on the tachy that sets this watch off into the mildly sporty, the gentleman (accent on gentleman) driver. The Grand Prix is for the down and dirty death driver a la Kurt Russel in "Death Proof." But what do I know? Either way, the watch definitely plays on a nice tension with Prada and Armani.
 

tinitonsi

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I think it is the checkerboard, finish-line flag motif on the tachy that sets this watch off into the mildly sporty, the gentleman (accent on gentleman) driver. The Grand Prix is for the down and dirty death driver a la Kurt Russel in "Death Proof." But what do I know? Either way, the watch definitely plays on a nice tension with Prada and Armani.
I honestly thought a long about to use the grey themes tachy in my Franken because of that flag motif. At the end I decided to keep the original one but who knows, maybe in the future. I still have the GT tachy and it really matches the Gentleman Driver's grey dial
 

aflop

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i like the bezel and the watch,you did a great job on the watch
only thing i cant used to it are the shaved tachy's,i dont like it for me they look like eggs:unsure:

Thanks buddy. This was evenly shaved all around so perhaps an optical illusion but yeah it's kinda like the same theory of us buying rep ironically. Some of us buy reps to avoid shelling out tens of thousands more for a gen. Likewise some have watches modded to avoid paying thousands for a Franken, yet wanting to not get called out so easily. To each his own I guess. But that's what I love about this hobby there are so many different tiers of hobbyists and levels of intensity!

Love the bezel. I'm more and more liking the red inserts in AP's.

Thanks it took awhile to grow on me but it slowly but surely did!

I bet there's a lot of APs in SG. Great read.. btw 42mm fits you better than 44mm but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

APs (gens) are as common as rolexes elsewhere and rolexes are as common as casios. This is especially true in HK and SG! Yes I can't pull of a 44 admittedly, you stalker you! Lol

I think it is the checkerboard, finish-line flag motif on the tachy that sets this watch off into the mildly sporty, the gentleman (accent on gentleman) driver. The Grand Prix is for the down and dirty death driver a la Kurt Russel in "Death Proof." But what do I know? Either way, the watch definitely plays on a nice tension with Prada and Armani.

Well put. The checkered design really makes the watch stand out, something classy border lining to pretentious. If they made the GP smaller for small wristed guys like me, it would have been perfect!