How could Audemars Piguet top last year’s much-hyped partnership with Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack? There was only one answer, and it is comprised of four letters.
Yes, KAWS and Audemars Piguet have finally unveiled their collaborative watch after months of teasers: the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillion “COMPANION.”
Though both KAWS and AP have influenced the streetwear side of pop culture for a couple decades, this watch marks the first time the two have partnered together.
As for today’s timepiece, Audemars Piguet could have just created a simple cobranded watch like the piece-unique we saw KAWS rocking earlier this year. Instead, the Swiss watchmaker dedicated and reworked its Royal Oak Concept to fit the style of KAWS, born Brian Donnelly.
“KAWS has taken collaboration to a whole new level,” Ilaria Resta, CEO of Audemars Piguet, said in a statement.
“By placing a miniature Companion at the heart of a Royal Oak Concept, he not only challenged us to push new boundaries, he also encouraged us to look at our craftmanship from a more humanistic perspective.”
Basically, if you’ve wanted to carry a KAWS Companion around your wrist, this Royal Oak Concept Tourbillion allows you to do that.
To make this work, the Swiss watchmaker literally had to push the “time to the side” by using a peripheral time display.
At the center of this AP 43mm Royal Oak Concept, under its sapphire crystal, sits a miniature 3D KAWS Companion figure with its face and hands seemingly touching the inner surface of the glass.
Additionally, as a nod to KAWS’ “Dissected” figure series, the chest of the mini Companion features the watch’s tourbillon — AP’s latest-gen version of the movement.
The details even go down to the hexagonal screws that fasten the case back and the bezel, which are subtly branded with the KAWS trademark “X” motif. It also makes an appearance on the watch’s sapphire case back.
As someone with one arm in streetwear lore and one arm deep in horology, I find the KAWS AP collaboration refreshing and oddly nostalgic.
The KAWS AP watch, like its Cactus Jack predecessor, creates a grail-worthy bridge between culture and horology in a way that balances both worlds.
If 2024 has taught us anything, it’s that the high-end watch world is finally (slowly) evolving, experimenting with new materials, designs, and collaborators to connect with a rapidly growing community of younger watch-curious collectors.
KAWS and AP’s Royal Oak Concept Tourbillion “COMPANION,” exclusively available from Audemars Piguet in a limited edition of 250 pieces, has me curious about what’s next.
With AP’s influence, flagship releases, and its recent wave of collaborative drops often signaling what is to come for luxury horology, I expect that this KAWS team-up will incite even more streetwear-adjacent luxury watch moments in coming years.
In fact, this new watch makes you wonder why there haven’t been more already.