Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Jay-Z spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Jay-Z was photographed wearing a substantial piece of horological history on his wrist: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in 18-karat yellow gold, reference 25829OR. The sighting, captured alongside Beyoncé, underscores the rapper and entrepreneur's long-documented affinity for haute horology that sits well beyond the reach of conventional luxury.

The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ref. 25829OR is one of the most technically demanding watches Audemars Piguet has ever produced. At its core sits calibre 2120/2802 — a collaboration between AP and Jaeger-LeCoultre that pairs the ultra-thin 2120 automatic movement, measuring just 2.45mm in height, with a perpetual calendar module developed by AP's own complications department. The combined movement stands at 4.26mm thick, an extraordinary achievement for a mechanism that simultaneously displays date, day, month, moon phase, and leap year cycle with no manual correction required until 2100. The 39mm yellow gold case, Gérald Genta's iconic octagonal bezel with its eight hexagonal screws, and the integrated bracelet remain immediately recognisable five decades after the original Royal Oak's 1972 debut.

Among collectors, the 25829OR occupies serious ground. Yellow gold Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars in this generation — produced across the late 1990s and 2000s — are increasingly sought after as the market recognises their movement quality and relative scarcity compared to later iterations. The dial's blue Grande Tapisserie pattern against gold indexes creates a depth that photographs rarely capture honestly; in person, the effect is genuinely arresting.

Jay-Z has worn AP references extensively over his career, and the Royal Oak fits his collecting philosophy: heritage over hype, substance beneath the surface. His watch choices tend to reward closer inspection rather than playing to the room, and the 25829OR — understated only by the standards of a man who also collects Richard Mille — reads exactly that way.

On the secondary market, yellow gold Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars of this reference trade at a meaningful premium over stainless steel equivalents, reflecting both material cost and collector demand. UK retail was listed at approximately £98,000, positioning this firmly in grand complication territory where AP competes with Patek Philippe's ref. 5140 on both prestige and price.