Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Akash Ambani spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

At what appears to be a traditional Indian celebration, Akash Ambani — son of Mukesh Ambani and a director at Reliance Industries — was photographed wearing a stainless steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 'Navy' chronograph. The watch, resting casually beneath the cuff of his kurta, draws the eye immediately with its signature white dial and navy blue accents, a contrast combination that has made this configuration one of the Offshore family's most recognisable variants.

The Royal Oak Offshore 'Navy' is built around the iconic 42mm octagonal stainless steel case first conceived by Emmanuel Gueit in 1993 as a sportier evolution of Gerald Genta's original Royal Oak. The reference commonly associated with this dial configuration is the 25721ST.OO.1000ST.09, housing Audemars Piguet's Calibre 2226/2840 — a self-winding column-wheel chronograph movement with 40 hours of power reserve. The white lacquered dial features Arabic numerals in navy blue, three matching sunken subdials for the 30-minute and 12-hour counters plus running seconds, and a tachymeter scale on the bezel insert. The navy blue alligator or leather strap with white contrast stitching completes the 'Navy' identity.

From a collector standpoint, the 'Navy' occupies a sweet spot in the Offshore spectrum. It predates the era of celebrity co-signed limited editions while still carrying the robust, slightly aggressive character that defines the Offshore bloodline. Its restrained colour palette makes it substantially more versatile than louder Offshore variants, and it has aged gracefully in both aesthetic and market terms.

For Akash Ambani, whose family is among India's wealthiest, the choice of an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore is consistent with a broader pattern of understated luxury signalling seen among India's next-generation business elite. The piece is notable rather than ostentatious — precisely the register the Offshore 'Navy' occupies within the broader AP catalogue.

At an original retail price of approximately $25,700, the Royal Oak Offshore 'Navy' has held its value well in secondary markets, with clean examples regularly trading at or modestly above retail depending on condition and box-and-papers status — a reflection of continued demand for classic Offshore references in an era increasingly dominated by newer AP sport references.