Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Travis Scott spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Travis Scott has built a reputation as one of hip-hop's most discerning watch collectors, and his latest sighting does nothing to undermine that status. The Houston rapper was spotted wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Open-Worked reference 15468BC — a white gold, skeletonized, frosted-finish piece set with 32 multi-coloured rainbow baguette-cut sapphires around the bezel — a watch that straddles the line between serious complication and jewellery-house extravagance.

The 15468BC is built around the calibre 3132, a manually wound skeletonized movement whose bridges and plates have been extensively hand-finished to remain visually coherent even after much of their material has been carved away. The Royal Oak's signature tapisserie dial is effectively replaced by open architecture, allowing the wearer to observe the regulated oscillation of the balance wheel directly. The 41mm case receives AP's 'frosted gold' treatment — a process developed with Florentine artisan Carolina Bucci in which thousands of tiny indentations are applied by a diamond-tipped tool to create a brilliant, light-scattering surface distinct from traditional polished or brushed finishing.

The rainbow sapphire bezel is where the 15468BC earns its place in a different conversation entirely. Thirty-two baguette-cut sapphires, graduated in colour across the visible spectrum, are factory-set into the octagonal bezel frame that Gerald Genta designed in 1972. The precision required to source and match stones of consistent cut but deliberately varied hue is considerable, and AP produces these configurations in strictly limited numbers.

For collectors, the 15468BC occupies a specific niche: it is not an entry-level Royal Oak, nor is it a purely sporty reference. It appeals to buyers who want technical credibility — a genuine complication — alongside overt decorative ambition. Production volumes are low, and examples rarely surface at retail. Scott, who has been photographed in everything from Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars to custom Pateks, clearly gravitates toward pieces that reward closer inspection.

At a UK list price of approximately £80,000 — translating to roughly $100,000 USD at prevailing rates — the 15468BC is already positioned at the upper tier of the Royal Oak catalogue. On the grey market, demand for jewellery-set, skeletonized AP references consistently exceeds supply, and this reference trades at a meaningful premium to list when examples do appear.