Chef Daniel Humm spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Catching a three-Michelin-star chef plating in a six-figure tourbillon is the kind of sighting that stops watch collectors mid-scroll. Daniel Humm, the Swiss-born chef behind New York's Eleven Madison Park and one of the world's most decorated culinary figures, was photographed at the pass wearing what is confirmed as an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Extra-Thin Tourbillon in stainless steel, reference 26510ST.OO.1220ST.01 — a watch that commands as much respect in horological circles as Humm does in gastronomy.

The 26510ST is built around Calibre 2924, AP's ultra-thin manually wound tourbillon movement, which measures just 3mm in height. Beating at 21,600 vph with a 70-hour power reserve, it sits within a 41mm stainless steel Royal Oak case that measures only 8.9mm from caseback to crystal — extraordinary geometry for a flying tourbillon. The signature blue 'Grande Tapisserie' dial places the open-worked tourbillon cage at 6 o'clock, framed by applied hour markers and dauphine hands in polished steel. The integrated bracelet, with its alternating brushed and polished surfaces, remains one of the most studied bracelet constructions in watchmaking.

From a collector's standpoint, a tourbillon in the Royal Oak's steel configuration is a rarity within the manufacture's output. AP produces tourbillons in far greater numbers in precious metal; the steel variant carries a particular cachet because it sits at the intersection of the Royal Oak's sporty DNA and grand complication territory. The 26510ST was quietly discontinued, which has only amplified grey-market desirability among serious collectors.

Humm's choice of the 26510ST is characteristically deliberate. The chef has long demonstrated refined taste beyond the kitchen — his Eleven Madison Park operates with the same obsessive attention to detail that AP applies to regulating a flying tourbillon. Both men and movements, in a sense, are defined by invisible precision made tangible in the final presentation.

At UK list price of approximately £100,000 (roughly $125,000 USD at prevailing rates), the Royal Oak Extra-Thin Tourbillon 26510ST was never an impulse purchase. On the secondary market, discontinued steel examples now routinely trade above retail, with clean examples achieving $140,000–$160,000 at major auction houses and grey dealers — a trajectory that shows no sign of reversal.