Watch Paparazzi

Youtuber Vlad Bumaga spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Vlad Bumaga, the 24-year-old Belarusian YouTube and social media sensation behind the A4 channel, was recently spotted wearing a heavily customised Audemars Piguet Royal Oak reference 15400ST.OO.1220ST.02 — a stainless steel 41mm sports watch that has been subjected to a comprehensive after-market diamond setting treatment covering the case, bezel, and dial.

The base reference, the Royal Oak 15400ST, was introduced by Audemars Piguet in 2012 as the direct successor to the long-running 15300ST, bringing a thinner profile and a revised dial architecture to the iconic octagonal-bezel design that Gérald Genta sketched overnight in 1972. The 41mm stainless steel case houses AP's proprietary Calibre 3120 automatic movement, a 280-component manufacture ebauche beating at 21,600 vph with a 60-hour power reserve and a 22-karat gold rotor. The tapisserie dial — that finely worked petit square pattern synonymous with the Royal Oak identity — sits beneath a sapphire crystal with glare-proof treatment on both sides.

What sets Bumaga's example apart from the standard reference is an extensive after-set diamond modification. The octagonal bezel, lugs, bracelet links, case flanks, and dial have all been transformed using honeycomb-set and pavé-set stones, a labour-intensive technique requiring individual stone placement by specialist craftsmen working outside AP's manufacture. Such aftermarket conversions, when executed at a professional level, can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 on top of the base watch, and the market pricing on this particular piece reflects that — currently quoted around $60,000 USD on the secondary market.

Among collectors, the 15400ST occupies serious ground. It was the definitive Royal Oak 41mm reference for nearly a decade before the 15500ST took over in 2020, and clean examples in steel retain strong demand. Iced-out variants appeal to an entirely different buyer profile — the crossover between high horology and hip-hop or social media culture — and are traded actively through specialist grey-market dealers.

With over four billion channel views, Bumaga ranks among the most-watched content creators to emerge from Eastern Europe, and his watch choices carry genuine influence with a young, digitally native audience for whom the Royal Oak functions as the ultimate luxury flex.