Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Pras Michel spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Pras Michel, best known as a founding member of the Grammy-winning Fugees, made a quiet but significant statement on the wrist recently — securing what was reported to be the first example of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 'All Black' reference 26579CE to land in the United States. For a piece with this level of technical and aesthetic ambition, that kind of provenance matters.

The 26579CE is built around a 41mm case crafted entirely from black ceramic — a material Audemars Piguet has refined over years of production, delivering exceptional scratch resistance and a depth of color that no PVD coating can replicate. The iconic Royal Oak octagonal bezel, designed by Gérald Genta in 1972, is executed here in the same ceramic, while the dial, hands, and applied indices maintain the all-black monochrome theme. Powering the watch is the Calibre 5134, a 374-component self-winding movement operating at 2.75 Hz with a 40-hour power reserve. Crucially, the perpetual calendar mechanism — displaying date, day, month, moon phase, and leap year — is programmed to require no correction until March 1, 2100.

From a collector's standpoint, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar occupies a specific and respected position in the AP catalogue. It is not a limited edition, but full ceramic executions consistently generate waitlists and grey-market premiums that reflect genuine demand rather than manufactured scarcity. The 26579CE in particular, with its uncompromising all-black presentation, appeals to collectors who want maximum complication without ostentation — a genuinely difficult balance to strike.

Pras Michel has long maintained a serious interest in high horology, and this acquisition fits a pattern of considered purchases rather than impulse celebrity buys. Being first to own a reference in an entire country — while anecdotal — suggests direct relationships with AP's top distribution channels, which are not easily cultivated.

At a UK list price of approximately £70,000, the 26579CE sits at a premium even within the Royal Oak family. Grey-market values for all-black ceramic complications from AP have consistently tracked above retail, and this reference is unlikely to be an exception for anyone fortunate enough to source one.