Rapper Gims spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Gims, the Congolese-French rapper behind some of the best-selling francophone albums of the past decade, was recently spotted wearing one of Audemars Piguet's most technically and aesthetically extreme creations: the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar All Black Ceramic Openworked, Reference 26585CE. The sighting places him firmly in a very short list of collectors who have managed to secure this piece at retail — or have the means to pursue it on the secondary market at nearly five times list price.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ref. 26585CE is built around Calibre 2953, a hand-wound openworked movement that displays a perpetual calendar with moonphase, day, date, month, and leap year indication — all through an intricately skeletonized dial that reveals the mechanism in full. The 41mm case, bezel, crown, and integrated bracelet are machined entirely from black ceramic, a feat requiring sintered zirconia processed under extreme pressure and temperature. AP's ability to machine ceramic to the tolerances required for a brushed and polished finish simultaneously — replicating the iconic Royal Oak alternating surface treatment — remains virtually unmatched in the industry.

First introduced as part of AP's push to bring ceramic beyond purely sportive applications, the 26585CE represents a convergence of the Royal Oak's 1972 Gerald Genta-designed DNA with the manufacture's highest complication tier. Collectors prize it for the sheer difficulty of its production: ceramic cannot be reworked once machined, meaning any error scraps the entire component. The openworked execution adds further complexity, removing material structurally while preserving movement integrity.

Gims has demonstrated a consistent eye for high-complication horology over the years, with Audemars Piguet featuring prominently in his collection alongside other prestige marques. His choice of the 26585CE signals more than luxury signaling — it reads as genuine engagement with watchmaking at its most demanding.

On the market, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ref. 26585CE tells a stark story. Against an official retail of $115,800, grey market valuations have climbed to approximately $578,000 — a premium exceeding 400 percent. Allocation is essentially invitation-only at authorized dealers, making secondary market acquisition the realistic path for most buyers, at a significant cost.