Singer Ed Sheeran spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Ed Sheeran has built a reputation as one of the more considered watch collectors in the music industry, gravitating toward technically significant pieces rather than purely trophy buys. His latest sighting — wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin All Black Ceramic, reference 26522CE — confirms that instinct entirely. Debuted at SIHH 2019, this watch stopped the industry in its tracks the moment it appeared on the exhibition floor in Geneva.

The 26522CE is built around Calibre 2924, a manually wound flying tourbillon movement running at 21,600 vph with a 70-hour power reserve. What makes the execution exceptional is not the complication itself — tourbillons are standard fare at this price level — but the decision to construct virtually the entire watch from black ceramic. The 41mm case, the integrated bracelet, the bezel with its signature octagonal screws, the dial, and even the tourbillon bridge are rendered in that deep, light-absorbing material. The result is a watch that reads as a single sculptural object rather than an assembly of components.

For collectors, the 26522CE occupies a specific and well-defended position in the Royal Oak universe. The extra-thin tourbillon lineage stretches back decades, but the all-ceramic execution at this scale — with a fully integrated bracelet — had never been attempted before this reference. AP's ceramic work is handled entirely in-house, which adds genuine manufacturing credibility beyond the brand name alone. The limitation to 100 pieces globally was not marketing theater; the production complexity genuinely constrained the run.

Ed Sheeran has previously been spotted in Patek Philippe and Richard Mille, but the 26522CE represents a step into more rarefied horological territory — a piece aimed squarely at the informed collector rather than the status-conscious buyer. That he reached for this particular watch, and not the more commercially visible Royal Oak Chronograph or offshore variants, says something about the depth of his collecting.

On the grey market, examples of the 26522CE trade significantly above list when they surface at all, which is infrequently. The combination of a flying tourbillon, all-ceramic construction, iconic Royal Oak DNA, and a hard ceiling of 100 units worldwide creates the conditions for sustained demand. With the UK list price sitting at £120,000 at launch, dollar-equivalent pricing placed retail above $150,000 at the time — and secondary market transactions since have moved well beyond that figure.