Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!!! We have a Winner!! the AP ROO BUMBLEBEE!! My 1st & last watch for 2010 ;)

look at the stars... look how they shine for you... and everything dat u do... yeah they were all yellow... ~ coldplay

it just fits so well together... the sheen of the ceramic bezel, the glint of the steel screws, the matte textured forged carbon body... its one sexy beast...

BUMBLEBEE!!! uhm or the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore with Forged Carbon Case and Ceramic Bezel... (i'll stick with its unofficial nick ;) 26176FO.OO.D101CR.01/02... 01 dial is non-lume and has 157 units out there, 02 dial is the lume version and is being made and bought and sold right now ;) mines an 02 dial which is all good :)

Before I talk more about the Bumblebee ROO, i wanted to point out that I am a ROO lover. the ROOs are just the best luxury sports watches [read this] out there and why buy a watch from another brand that was set out to be a ROO challenger or is a ROO wannabe? buy the real deal i say... i've been spoilt before too... i really loved the black themes and enjoyed ownership of it. but due to my grail quest, my black themes was sacrificed on the altar of the antiqua ;) that watch though was really really excellent on the hornback with white stitch i had it on. so in my hunt for a new ROO i did consider it again but having owned it before, i thought it wise to try something different, something a lil more exotic... jus a lil ;)

RIP my black themes... gone but not forgotten ;) still beautiful in my eyes...

So what does this ROO lover consider to be the best ROOs out there? mind you noting that there are ALOT of em! loads of regular editions, unlimited limited editions, limited productions et al...

RAPHMEISTER'S FAVE ROOS

(prices are my estimates and are noted in Singapore Dollar$ as at early Feb 2010. note these aren't official and dealers/sellers can ask for anything they want to ask for...)

1. Black Themes (Priced around S$22k new, Pre-owned around S$18k depending on condition) [Less than S$25k category - It wins out for me against the other themes and new regular editions (Around S$22-23k new), steel rubberclads (S$17+k-20), Navy, Safari, Volcano (Around S$24 BNIB), older ROOs, Scubas (Around S$18k) etc] Pricing information: Depending on condition in the pre-owned market the Regular Eds could go for S$17+k to 20ish. The Limited Productions(LP) typically go for S$21-24 in BNIB or LNIB condition depending on model.

2. Bumblebee (Priced around S$38k new) [S$25-50k - It wins out for me against the Kill Bill(Jalan Bukit Bintang) (Around low to mid S$30s from high 30s), Orchard Rd La Boutique (Around S$40), Rosegold Rubberclad (Around S$40-42 new and mid-high 30s pre-owned), Alinghi Polaris (High S$20s to Low S$30s), Sincere, RO La Boutique NY (in the low 40s), Ginza (High S$30s), Las Vegas (Around mid S$30s from 40s), Masato (Mid to High S$30s), Singapore GP (High S$40s), Montoya (Around S$50k), Shaq LE (Mid to High S$30s), T3, etc]

3. Rubens Barichello II Ti (Priced around S$64-69k) [S$50-100k - It wins out for me against the Team Alinghi (Around S$50k, note it was once in the low to high 60s), Survivor(Low to Mid S$50s from high 50s a couple of months back), GP, RBIII, Don Ramon etc]

4. End of Days (Priced around S$50 to 60+k depending on provenance and condition) [S$50-100k including the Perp Calendars, Arnold All Stars, Ginza Rose, Team Alinghi Rose, RBII RG, other LE RGs etc]

5. Carbon Concept (Priced around S$300k if i'm not mistaken...but it depends) [>S$100k - It wins out for me against the Tourbillon LEs, other Concepts, the LE RGs that are above S$100k, RB2 Plat, TA Plat, and all the other Plat and Blingy ones etc]

definitely one of the BEST ever... RB2 Ti

other than bumblebee, another ceramic bezel, forged carbon watch is the concept carbon which costs A LOT more! wowza!

[ click to read the rest of the post... expand or collapse ]

Initial impressions... read about it here

I think my first thoughts were slightly dismissive of this piece as i put it in a head to head with the End of Days... but i have since seen the error of my ways. this piece stands by itself and does so beautifully. the more i see it the more i realise that it is a wholly excellent ROO and it needs to be seen in the forged carbon to really know how good it is...

Some specs... 42mm case diameter... ~15mm stack height...

hand finished in-house base calibre sits inside it...

its true... look how they shine for you... look how they shine for you... look how they shine for you...

raphmeister takes on the bumblebee... so whats the deal with ceramic? its much harder than steel for one thing... how about forged carbon? its a proprietary process by AP that uses high heat and A LOT of pressure to make something unique and special...

double AP deployant clasp in bead blasted titanium with a pvd'ed end... sweet... the baby hornback... not as proper as hornbacks of old where the leather was tougher and the horn was higher... i prefer the older hornback straps as they felt like straps for men... this feels a bit more wimpier but it ain't that bad :) its more comfortable but not as fierce as the older hornback is all...

& the verdict? its my first and last watch purchase of 2010 and thats saying something :) hope u enjoyed this take on the ROO and the BumbleBee. cheers, raph

[To see a cool-ish video on how its made... go to AP Website via this Link]