Rapper Drake spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Drake — Aubrey Graham to anyone who still needs the reminder — has been spotted wearing one of the most technically rarefied Royal Oaks in existence: the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin in 18K pink gold, reference 26515OR, a watch limited to just 25 examples worldwide.

The 26515OR is built around the iconic 41mm Royal Oak octagonal case in 18-karat pink gold, fitted with the signature integrated bracelet that Gerald Genta sketched in a single night back in 1971. But it is what sits beneath the dial that separates this piece from the broader Royal Oak universe. Audemars Piguet equipped the reference 26515OR with Calibre 2924, an in-house manually wound tourbillon movement measuring just 3.95mm thick — placing it among the thinnest flying tourbillon movements ever conceived. The skeletonized dial opens a direct view onto the architecture of the movement, including the tourbillon cage rotating at the six o'clock position, and the bridges finished to AP's exacting Geneva standards with alternating polished and satin surfaces.

From a collector standpoint, ultra-thin tourbillon Royal Oaks occupy a distinct tier within the AP hierarchy. The combination of the Royal Oak case — arguably the most important sports-luxury design of the twentieth century — with a complication of this technical complexity and a production run of 25 units globally creates scarcity that is essentially absolute. These references rarely surface at auction, and when they do, they consistently outperform expectations. The pink gold execution adds a layer of warmth that contrasts meaningfully with the more commonly seen steel and white gold variants.

Drake's engagement with serious watchmaking is well documented. His collection includes bespoke Richard Mille pieces, rare Patek Philippe references, and multiple Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks spanning steel sport models to high-complications. Wearing the 26515OR is a statement not of ostentation but of genuine connoisseurship — this is not a watch chosen for its logo visibility but for its position at the absolute top of the AP manufacture's technical output.

With a UK list price of approximately £148,000 — translating to roughly $185,000 USD at prevailing rates — the Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin 26515OR sits firmly in the stratosphere of AP's commercial offer. On the secondary market, where examples surface only occasionally, prices reflect both the extreme scarcity of the 25-piece allocation and sustained collector demand for pink gold high-complications from the Le Brassus manufacture.