Although the really big news in complications from the Offshore family of watches this year was the Royal Oak Offshore Grande Complication, we were really captivated by another introduction as well: the Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar Chronograph.  Like the Grande Comp, it’s a clever play against the preconception of the Offshore as a pure, hell-for-leather sports watch –the perpetual calendar is, after all, generally considered one of the most genteel of complications, with its ability to handle the hiccups and quirks of the Gregorian calendar without troubling Monsieur with fiddling with the crown.  In the Offshore case, it works very well though, and for the same reasons underlying the success of the Grande Comp as a design effort –it’s got a wonderful, really strong instrument-watch vibe that casts the perpetual calendar as a high precision mechanical computer, as well as a refined horological work of art.

We especially loved the moonphase –although the traditional rotating, double moon disk arrangement has an undeniable charm, the variation used on the Royal Oak Offshore Perpetual Calendar’s a knockout and a great use of the extra real estate of the dial.

The watch will be released as a limited edition in titanium (35 pieces – $67,200), rose gold (25 pieces – $91,900) and platinum (10 pieces – $128,500.)  The platinum version, shown, has a cool opulence that we find irresistible.