Watch Paparazzi

Singer Post Malone spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Post Malone was recently spotted on the wrist with one of Audemars Piguet's most technically ambitious discontinued references — the Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon ref. 26560IO — a piece that has quietly become one of the harder Concept references to source on the secondary market.

The 26560IO houses Calibre 2954, a manually wound movement offering a flying tourbillon, GMT function, and a power reserve of approximately 237 hours — nearly ten days of autonomy, a remarkable figure for a complication of this density. The 44mm case is crafted in grade 5 titanium with forged carbon inserts, keeping the weight surprisingly low despite the mechanical complexity within. The movement architecture is skeletonised throughout, revealing the tourbillon cage and gear train through both the dial and the exhibition caseback. Water resistance is rated to 20 metres, appropriate for a dress-level complication watch.

The Royal Oak Concept line launched in 2002 as AP's laboratory for experimental watchmaking — effectively a sandbox where the brand's movement engineers could operate outside the constraints of the core Royal Oak collection. The 26560IO, produced in the mid-2010s, represents a mature expression of that philosophy: the octagonal Royal Oak case language is present, but the construction vocabulary is entirely its own. Its discontinuation has only reinforced collector interest, as no direct successor has filled precisely the same spec brief.

Post Malone has demonstrated a consistent appetite for complicated, architecturally bold timepieces — pieces that reward close examination rather than simply reading as status symbols from a distance. The ref. 26560IO fits that pattern precisely. It is not a watch that announces itself loudly; the titanium finish is deliberately understated, and its complexity only reveals itself once you look through the dial.

With its official retail price discontinued, the grey market has established a firm value around $220,000 USD — a figure that reflects both the technical specification and the scarcity premium attached to any out-of-production Royal Oak Concept reference. For collectors tracking AP's Concept series, a high-profile sighting like this rarely hurts liquidity.