Exactly one year ago, I bought an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph (also nick named ‘ROC’) ref.26300 to accompany my precious Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ ref.15202. I added the ROC because I missed the thicker bracelet and case of the Royal Oak ‘Date’ ref.15300 I previously owned.

The AP ROC has become one of my favorite watches and is always in my weekly watch rotating programme (something I learned to do from Chuck Maddox). The ‘Newman’ or ‘Panda’ dial combination has become a popular model amongst the Audemars Piguet ROC fan base, given the times this exact configuration pops-up at the ‘new watch’-threads at TimeZone’s Audemars Piguet forum.

The picture above was taken and posted by Luke (TrA), a regular visitor of TimeZone.

The owner of the wacth picture above, Luke, explains to the readers that although the watch only measures 39mm in diameter, it certainly wears a bit bigger. He writes: Its size and profile make it both elegant and sporty IMO. The red accents on the dial give it some drama and urgency (it is a chronograph after all!). Check the small report on his new watch here. He considered the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph ‘Panda’ as well as the Royal Oak Offshore Diver (which we reviewed here).

A long term report on the Audemars Piguet ROC ref.26300ST will be up soon.