Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Nigel De Jong spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

AC Milan midfielder Nigel De Jong was photographed on the wrist with one of the most technically uncompromising watches Audemars Piguet has ever produced — the Royal Oak Offshore Concept Tourbillon in Alacrite, reference 25980AI.OO.D003SU.01, a piece limited to just 150 examples globally.

Introduced in the mid-2000s as part of AP's experimental Concept series, the Royal Oak Offshore Concept CW1 was designed to strip the mechanical watch back to its structural essentials. The calibre 2896 flying tourbillon movement operates without a traditional mainplate; instead, bridges and components are suspended between sapphire crystals, creating a see-through architecture that makes the tourbillon cage appear to float in space. Power reserve stands at approximately 10 days, delivered via a twin-barrel setup, and the movement is finished to a standard that rewards close inspection through its fully skeletonised layout.

The case material is where this reference distinguishes itself most sharply from the wider Offshore family. Alacrite 602 is a cobalt-chromium superalloy originally engineered for high-stress aerospace and turbine applications. It is substantially harder than titanium and more resistant to surface wear than most conventional watch case metals, yet remains relatively lightweight on the wrist. The octagonal bezel and integrated rubber strap maintain the unmistakable Offshore DNA, but the Alacrite execution gives this Concept watch a matte, industrial presence that separates it entirely from precious-metal siblings.

Among serious AP collectors, the Concept series occupies a distinct category — these are not volume pieces built to AP's commercial schedule but genuine laboratory exercises in materials science and movement architecture. The 150-piece limitation, combined with the unusual case alloy and the complexity of the movement, has made reference 25980AI.OO.D003SU.01 a consistently pursued target at auction and in the grey market. Footballers with serious horological taste have long gravitated toward the Offshore line, but the Concept sits several registers above the standard Offshore in terms of rarity and technical ambition.

De Jong, a combative central midfielder who built his career at Hamburg, Manchester City, and AC Milan before moving into MLS, has maintained a relatively low public profile off the pitch. The choice of this particular reference — rare, technically extreme, visually confrontational — reads as entirely consistent with his on-field identity. At a UK RRP of £155,000, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Concept Tourbillon Alacrite CW1 commands prices well into six figures on the secondary market, where available examples are seldom seen.