Audemars Piguet Unveils Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph in Forged Carbon Fiber with GMT Big Date When it comes to high-tech materials in watchmaking, there’s an interesting cycle. When a material first appears, typically, the material will be used in its most typical form with very few additional modifications. However, once the material starts to become more widely used in the industry, brands are able to experiment with aesthetics and design better. Hublot, for example, pushed boundaries with colored sapphire cases, while IWC mastered ceramics. Now it’s Audemars Piguet’s turn to experiment with colored forged carbon as part of the new Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Big Date.

To be clear, colored carbon fiber isn’t entirely new, Richard Mille has been doing it for years. The innovation here is in the way the carbon fiber is colored. Traditionally, the color comes from the resin that holds the carbon fiber together, while the carbon fiber itself retains its natural color and remains black/dark gray if the resin is removed. However, AP has developed a method that means the actual carbon fiber is colored. This is what AP calls CFT Carbon, or Chroma Forged Technology Carbon.

Audemars Piguet has been using forged carbon for eight years, but they haven’t been sitting idle, five of those years were spent developing CFT Carbon. To summarize the patented process, the carbon fiber is cut into small pieces and painted with pigment. They are then layered into a carbon block mold and finished with resin like normal. That’s why the 43mm case of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Split Seconds Chronograph GMT Big Date features a pattern of black areas and shiny, bright blue sections.

An important difference is that during the layering process, AP has full control over where the colored carbon pieces are placed. This is much more important than it sounds, because it means they have a high degree of control over the pattern of the final product. Usually we describe the pattern of forged carbon as completely random, but this isn’t the case. It’s just mostly random.

The forging process still results in some deviation and variation due to the forces involved, but to use an analogy, it’s closer to baking a cake – you can pick the ingredients and put everything in the oven the way you want it, but the baking is what counts. On the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Big Date, the blue elements of CFT Carbon are still very irregular, so I don’t think Audemars Piguet has fully explored what this concept might allow them to achieve.

Structurally, it’s just as light and durable as regular forged carbon. In fact, it’s technically more scratch-resistant because there’s a lower percentage of resin in its construction compared to the standard. If you want to talk about true scratch resistance, though, you need to look at the ceramic hardware this watch also has – the bezel, crown, pushers, and caseback.

The dial and movement almost feel like minor details on this watch. The movement is the caliber 4407, an automatic movement with a 70-hour power reserve, split-seconds chronograph, flyback chronograph, 24-hour GMT hand, hours, minutes, seconds, and an oversized date window. You can see it through the skeletonized dial, which is still very legible thanks to the electric blue indices.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Big Date Forged Carbon is priced at a negotiable price, which is to be expected given the advanced materials used and the split-seconds chronograph movement. I think this is actually a very cool chronograph from AP, it almost feels like an AP-RM hybrid, which I don't hate the idea of. I still hope to see AP push this technology further and see if they can produce something truly amazing and stunning in the future.

Model: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Big Date
Reference: 26650FO.OO.D353CA.01
Case: Ø 43 mm x H 17.4 mm, CFT carbon, black ceramic bezel
Dial: Skeleton black PVD nickel silver
Water resistance: 50 m (5 bar)
Movement: Audemars Piguet calibre 4407 automatic, 73 jewels, 638 parts
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve: 70 h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph
Strap: Beige rubber with fabric inlay and titanium pin buckle