Royal Mansoor Bin Mohammed Almaktoum spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the son of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and a prominent figure in international equestrian and sporting circles, was recently photographed adjusting his wristwatch at what appears to be an outdoor public event in the UAE. The piece on his wrist is immediately identifiable as an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph — and not just any configuration, but one of the brand's more technically ambitious limited editions.

The watch in question is the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph reference 26400SO.OO.A335CA.01, a 44mm stainless steel model introduced as a 400-piece limited edition. Its defining feature is the monobloc blue ceramic bezel — a component that presented significant manufacturing challenges for AP's Le Brassus atelier. Ceramic's extreme hardness makes machining the Royal Oak Offshore's characteristic octagonal shape with eight hex-head screws an extraordinarily precise operation. The crown and pusher tubes are also rendered in matching blue ceramic, creating a color-coherent case architecture that reads as genuinely purposeful rather than decorative. The blue Méga-Tapisserie dial — AP's larger-grid variant of the classic motif — anchors three white subdials for the chronograph's 12-hour, 60-minute, and running-seconds displays. The camouflage-patterned rubber strap in shades of blue is a detail that lifts this reference well above a standard colorway exercise.

Under the caseback sits calibre 3126/3840, AP's in-house automatic chronograph movement beating at 21,600 vph with a column wheel and 50-hour power reserve. It is a robust, proven architecture — not the most complex movement in the Offshore family, but entirely appropriate for the tool-watch DNA the model was conceived around when Jacqueline Dimier and Emmanuel Gueit designed the original Offshore in 1993.

For collectors, the blue ceramic Offshore occupies an interesting position: limited enough to carry secondary-market relevance, accessible enough in its 44mm format to remain wearable across a range of contexts. Grey market values have tracked above retail consistently since release, reflecting sustained demand from the Gulf and Asian markets in particular.

Sheikh Mansoor's choice aligns naturally with the piece's profile — a sport-luxury chronograph with regional resonance, worn without ostentation at a public event. At a listed retail of $32,200, it sits at the premium end of the Offshore range while remaining well within reach of serious collectors.