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Actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was recently photographed wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph in 18KT white gold with Frosted Gold finishing and a purple dial, reference 26331BC — a limited edition of just 200 pieces that sits at the more rarefied end of even AP's own catalogue.

The Frosted Gold technique is the story here. Audemars Piguet partnered with Florentine goldsmith Carolina Bucci to revive a Renaissance-era burnishing method: a pointed diamond tool strikes the metal surface thousands of times, creating microscopic indentations that scatter light with an intensity no polishing wheel can replicate. Applied to the Royal Oak's already architecturally complex 42mm case and signature octagonal bezel, the effect is striking without being ostentatious — which is a difficult balance to strike in this price bracket. The purple dial, a relatively uncommon choice in the Royal Oak Chronograph family, works in counterpoint to the cold brilliance of the frosted white gold.

Under the case, the 26331BC runs on Calibre 2385, AP's integrated column-wheel chronograph movement with a 40-hour power reserve and 2.84Hz beat rate. It's a movement with real pedigree, descended from the original integrated chrono architecture that made the Royal Oak Chronograph a benchmark piece when it launched in the 1990s. The combination of a high-complication integrated movement with a jewellery-house finishing technique is what justifies the price point for serious collectors.

The Royal Oak Chronograph 26331BC occupies an interesting position in the collector market: too jewellery-adjacent for pure complications purists, too technically serious to be dismissed as a gem-set vanity piece. That ambiguity has historically kept secondary market prices from running as aggressively as the standard steel Royal Oak Chronograph, but the 200-piece limitation and the Bucci collaboration give it a distinct provenance that holds long-term value.

Johnson, whose collection is known to include several AP and Patek Philippe pieces, wears the 26331BC with the casual authority of someone who understands what's on his wrist. On a man whose personal brand is built on scale and presence, the quiet spectacle of frosted white gold reads as considered rather than flashy — and that, for this particular watch, is exactly the right register.