Excelsior!

Icons are not made overnight.

The Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon is the first watch to emerge from Audemars Piguet’s collaboration with Marvel Entertainment.

It’s well known that the late, great watch designer Gerald Genta was behind Audemars Piguet’s now-iconic Royal Oak, which raised eyebrows when it launched in 1972. A more obscure nugget is that Genta also riled up the humourless organisers of a Genevan trade show in 1984 when he debuted his high-end timepieces featuring Mickey Mouse and the Pink Panther. Those character watches became collector favourites.

Their figurative style inspired the design of a timepiece featuring a panther of a different variety. The Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon is the first watch to emerge from Audemars Piguet’s collaboration with Marvel Entertainment. Despite its apparent artistry – 30 hours are required to engrave and paint each whitegold Black Panther sculpture – the timepiece has been at the receiving end of an unwarranted amount of negativity. Well, as history has shown, sometimes people just need a little time to come around.