'Exclusive' is the word that keeps the luxury fashion world in motion. Take the Hermès Birkin bag as your prime example. Yet when it comes to timepieces, that concept is only amplified. Limited-edition runs, exclusive drops, and invitation-only collections create a market that is not just elite, but often shrouded in secrecy—where prized curators whisper about the watches worth investing in, and only amongst themselves. Until, that is, a timepiece becomes so popular that every chic celebrity is spotted wearing one. Enter: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Mini.
Now, if you're up to date on your horological knowledge, you’ll know that Audemars Piguet released the new 23mm Royal Oak Mini around this time last year. "It's a revival of the 1997 20mm model that channels the design codes Gerald Genta so masterfully imbued into the original larger Royal Oak back in 1972," says jewellery specialist, advisor and curator Mirta de Gisbert.
In only a short space of time, it has already racked up a number of famous faces as fans—including Hailey Bieber, Winnie Harlow, Simone Biles, and Serena Williams, who wore not one but two of the timepieces while presenting the 2024 ESPY Awards. Talk about making a real style statement.
Yet the most interesting element lies in its petite proportions. "The idea of size as a statement isn’t new, with oversized watches dominating headlines for years," continues Gisbert. "But at 23mm, the new Mini Royal Oak is flipping the script: being unapologetically small and understated has become the statement itself."
It’s this shrunken-down size that Lauren Kelly, personal shopper at luxury sourcing platform Threads, says feeds into the ‘mini effect’. "Across the fashion world, we've seen the demand for all things mini—take the Hermès Mini Kelly or the Chanel Mini Vanity, for example—and now the introduction of the mini version of such a famous timepiece," she shares. "It's this, combined with the limited release of the frosted colours, that has sent the resale market soaring."
The colourways in question? 18-carat white, yellow and pink gold, all rendered in a frosted finish—a style originally dreamed up by jewellery designer Carolina Bucci. Yet if you thought choosing a colour was the hardest part, you'd be sorely mistaken.
Audemars Piguet produces around 50,000 watches a year. Split that across every model and colour in the collection, and you're left with a modest (read: incredibly exclusive) number of watches in each style. So, rumour has it, it can be less a case of you choosing the watch, and more that the watch (or rather, the brand) chooses you—through carefully managed appointments and profile analysis.
Unless, of course, you use a sourcing service like Threads, or search for a pre-loved vintage model at the likes of Sotheby’s. If only we had the pull of the A-list...
Shop Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Mini
Crafted from 18-carat frosted white gold, a tone-on-tone Petite Tapisserie dial and powered by quartz Calibre 2730, this timepiece has caught the eye of many a watch lover—Simone Biles and Raye, included.
Winnie Harlow has been spotted sporting the pink gold Royal Oak Mini, and the shade is seen as the softest of the three.
Gold watch fans are sure to have their eye on the yellow gold Royal Oak Mini, which is also (as are the others) water resistant up to 50 metres.
If you'd prefer not to go through the rigmarole of booking an appointment, you may prefer to invest in a pre-loved vintage find such as this Sotheby's option.
Hatton Garden-based jewellers, Trilogy Jewellers, are even selling a pre-loved version of the new style, although at a considerably higher cost.
