Actor Akhil Akkineni spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Akhil Akkineni, the Telugu film industry actor and son of Tollywood icon Nagarjuna, was recently spotted wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Ref. 26290IO — a watch that carries a retail tag of approximately $45,000 and a motorsport-derived design language that is anything but understated.

The Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Ref. 26290IO sits within the broader Offshore family that Gerald Genta's original 1993 design spawned, though it pushes the aesthetic vocabulary considerably further. The case is constructed from forged carbon fiber, a material Audemars Piguet has used to striking effect across the Offshore line, delivering exceptional lightness and a unique marbled visual texture that is impossible to replicate identically across two watches. The rubber-integrated crown guards and bezel screws — a signature Offshore detail — reinforce the motorsport theme, while the black dial carries the stepped, multi-level architecture that collector crowds have come to associate with the Grand Prix references. Inside runs the Calibre 3126/3840, a self-winding integrated movement delivering hours, minutes, small seconds, date, and a column-wheel flyback chronograph with a 50-hour power reserve.

Within Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak Offshore catalogue, the Grand Prix references occupy a particularly respected niche. Collectors prize them for the forged carbon execution — a technically demanding material to work with at this precision level — and the cohesive motorsport identity that makes them feel purposeful rather than decorative. The Ref. 26290IO specifically, in its black-on-black colourway, has maintained consistent demand on the secondary market precisely because it avoids the flashier, more polarising coloured iterations of the Offshore family.

Akhil Akkineni has cultivated a visible interest in luxury watches, and this particular choice reflects a more considered collector sensibility. The Offshore Grand Prix is not a straightforward status symbol — it rewards knowledge of Audemars Piguet's technical history and requires a certain commitment to wearing something architecturally bold.

On the grey market, the Royal Oak Offshore Grand Prix Ref. 26290IO trades at or above retail, reflecting the enduring strength of the AP brand and the scarcity of desirable Offshore references through authorised channels. For buyers unable to access an AD allocation, expect to pay a premium over the $45,000 list price.