Actor Chris Hemsworth spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Chris Hemsworth was recently photographed wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked reference 15416CE — a black ceramic variant that sits at the sharp end of the Royal Oak family in terms of both technical complexity and collector desirability. It is not the kind of watch you stumble into by accident.

The 15416CE houses calibre 3132, a self-winding movement built around a double balance wheel — two oscillators connected by a differential that averages out positional errors and delivers improved rate consistency compared to a conventional single-wheel architecture. The movement is then skeletonized, revealing the gear train, bridges, and twin regulators in an openworked architecture that is finished to AP's hallmark standards: beveled edges, alternating brushed and polished surfaces. The slate grey openworked dial provides depth rather than clutter, with pink gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands carrying luminescent coating for legibility. The 41 mm black ceramic case — a material AP machines in-house — is extraordinarily hard and scratch-resistant, making it a functionally intelligent choice beneath the obvious aesthetic drama.

This ceramic reference was introduced in 2020, following well-received steel and rose gold versions that had already established the Double Balance Wheel Openworked as one of the more technically credible entries in the Royal Oak lineup. Ceramic Royal Oaks have historically commanded significant premiums on the secondary market — the material is difficult to produce at scale, which keeps supply genuinely constrained. Among collectors, the 15416CE occupies a specific niche: it appeals to those who want skeletonization done with restraint, and a case material that justifies its complexity rather than merely decorating it.

Hemsworth, whose public profile tends toward unpretentious athleticism rather than ostentatious luxury, makes for an interesting match with a watch this technically loaded. It signals a collector sensibility rather than a red-carpet selection — the 15416CE is not the most visually immediate Royal Oak, but it rewards closer attention.

At a retail price of $90,750, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked 15416CE is already firmly in rarefied territory. On the grey market, however, the reference has been trading at approximately $280,000 — a premium of more than three times retail that reflects both the scarcity of ceramic AP production and the sustained global demand for the Royal Oak line in any serious configuration.