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Actor Damien Lewis spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Damien Lewis was photographed wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Blue Camouflage shortly after its debut at the 2019 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, placing the actor among the earliest public adopters of one of that year's more visually arresting releases.

The Royal Oak Offshore reference 26400SO measures 44mm and pairs a grade-5 titanium case with a ceramic bezel and a dial constructed from forged carbon. The camouflage treatment is not a printed or applied graphic — AP engineers achieved the patterning by selectively blasting sections of the dial and case components to produce varying surface textures that interact differently with a blue PVD coating, creating genuine tonal depth. The crown and pushers are ceramic. Strapped on a structured rubber bracelet with a deployant clasp, the watch carries water resistance to 100 metres. Power comes from the in-house Calibre 3126/3840, a self-winding movement with a 50-hour power reserve running at 21,600 vph, equipped with a column-wheel chronograph mechanism and AP's trademark integrated rotor.

The 26400SO occupies a specific collector niche within the Offshore family. While purists remain anchored to Gerald Genta's original 1993 Offshore design and the steel references closest to it, the material-forward variants like the Blue Camouflage attract a younger collector demographic drawn to technical craft rather than heritage alone. Forged carbon dials of this quality are labour-intensive to produce consistently, and AP's execution here is considered among the cleaner examples of the genre.

Lewis has worn a range of serious horological pieces publicly, but the Blue Camouflage Offshore aligns particularly well with his public persona — understated in person, conspicuous on closer examination. The actor's role as hedge-fund trader Bobby Axelrod in Billions arguably introduced more viewers to haute horlogerie than any advertorial campaign could.

At UK list price of £28,500 — approximately $36,000 USD at the time of release — the 26400SO sat in the upper-mid range of the Offshore catalogue. On the grey market, demand for the Blue Camouflage has remained steady, with examples typically trading at or modestly above retail, reflecting the piece's limited but not aggressively restricted production status.