Watchmakers regularly turn familiar design cues into accessories, but Audemars Piguet and Konstantin Chaykin have taken notably different approaches to the genre with their latest offerings. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Joaillerie Collection recasts the Royal Oak as an extensive range of elaborate jewellery, while Konstantin Chaykin’s Master of Days cufflinks incorporate a tiny mechanical calibre that provides a day-of-the-week display.
Both draw on the design and manufacturing specialties of their makers, but at vastly different price points and with different audiences in mind. Both approaches, however, lend themselves to gift-giving, which might explain the timing of the releases in the lead up to the holiday season.
Initial thoughts
Some of the biggest names in series watchmaking dabble in accessories on the side. The most obvious is probably Rolex, which made headlines when it formally launched a line of cufflinks — and a desk clock — late last year.
Patek Philippe, too, has a long history of making jewellery and accessories. Today the brand offers cufflinks that match the Golden Ellipse, Nautilus, and Cubitus, and jewellery that takes after the Aquanaut and the Twenty-4.
Even smaller-scale independent watchmakers evidently see value in the category. F.P. Journe offers a set of cufflinks in a choice of platinum or 18 pink gold — to match the brand’s watches — as does Biver. Franck Muller goes even further, with a full collection of Crazy Hours-inspired necklaces and rings.
It’s easy to see why. At the retail counter, a set of cufflinks is a perfect up-sell opportunity, and ownership of said cufflinks incentivises the use of the matching watch.
On the brand side, small accessories represent an outlet for excess capacity, making use of many of the same tools and techniques involved in watchmaking. Commercially, accessories can help add revenue without threatening the capacity of the after-sales service network.
The timeless Royal Oak
In this context, it’s no surprise to see Audemars Piguet get more involved in this segment. The brand’s CEO Ilaria Resta has stated publicly that the share of its customers that are women will increase from 20% in 2025 to an estimated 45% in 2030.
While many woman are interested in the mechanical side of watches, the jewellery collection seems like a smart way to expand awareness of Audemars Piguet in a new segment of buyers that isn’t yet interested in watchmaking. Of course, it also gives existing women clientele a way to engage more deeply with the brand.
To the brand’s credit Audemars Piguet has gone all out on the Royal Oak jewellery collection in terms of attention to detail, revealing a watchmaker’s eye for decorating even the hidden surfaces. The diamond settings on the earrings, for example, are fashioned after octagonal Royal Oak bezels — a tiny detail noticeable only to the owner.
The same is likely true of the necklace, which takes the form of a zipper, with a Royal Oak bracelet design on one half and a string of pear-shaped diamonds on the other. The expansive range of jewellery includes a variety of cuff bracelets and necklaces carrying familiar Royal Oak motifs and decorative treatments, from frosted gold to all-black.
A ThinKing man’s cufflinks
Cufflinks can go hand-in-hand with watches, at least for those with an affinity for French cuffs, but most stop short of incorporating a mechanical movement. Konstantin Chaykin’s Master of Days cufflinks take things a step further.
Each 18 mm cufflink is machines from titanium, and decorated with the same attention to detail as the brand’s watches, with brushed and polished surfaces, precisely engraved text, and an intuitive corrector discreetly integrated into a pivoting whaleback.
Inside, an elegant mechanical jumper system for the day-of-the-week indicator is updated by the fastening the cufflink — this action jumps the day forward by one step. The diminutive 2-jewel calibre, revealed in full beneath a sapphire crystal, shows off an attractively sandblasted main plate and blued day pointer. Ironically, the cufflinks several times thicker than the brand’s record-breaking ThinKing Mystery wristwatch, with which it would otherwise pair nicely.
Key facts and price
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Risoud Eclipse
Ref. COL000018AA (necklace)
Ref. BCT000019AA (cuff)
Dimensions: 13.7 × 15.7 × 3.24 cm (necklace); 7 × 6.4 × 3.5 cm (cuff)
Materials: Blackened titanium and 18k white gold, set with sugarloaf emeralds and diamonds
Limited edition: No
Availability: AP boutiques and AP Houses
Price: Upon request
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Dream of Joux
Ref. COL000015AA (tie necklace, blue titanium and white gold)
Ref. EAR000007AA (drop earrings, blue titanium and white gold)
Ref. A0188889AA (drop earrings, pink gold, tsavorites and topazes)
Ref. A0188888AA (drop earrings, pink gold, multicoloured gemstones)
Ref. BCT000023AA (“Sunburst” cuff, yellow gold)
Ref. BCT000025AA (“Blue Moon” cuff, white gold)
Ref. BCT000024AA (“Tree of Life” cuff, pink gold)
Ref. A0187618AA (“Frozen Lake” cuff, white gold)
Ref. A0187623AA (“Blueberries” cuff, white gold with yellow gold threads)
Ref. A0187621AA (“Edelweiss” cuff, white gold)
Ref. A0187620AA (“Edelweiss” cuff, yellow gold)
Dimensions: 26 × 12 × 5 cm (tie necklace); 5.6 × 1 × 1.5 cm (earrings); 6.1 × 2.9 × 0.4 cm (cuffs)
Materials: 18k white, pink or yellow gold, or blue titanium with 18k white gold, set with diamonds, sapphires, tsavorites, topazes, tourmalines, amethysts, tanzanites, spessartites or black spinels
Limited edition: No
Availability: AP boutiques and AP Houses
Price: Upon request
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold
Ref. COL000014AA (choker, pink gold)
Ref. COL000013AA (choker, white gold)
Ref. COL000012AA (choker, yellow gold)
Ref. BCT000016AA (cuff, pink gold)
Ref. BCT000017AA (cuff, white gold)
Ref. BCT000018AA (cuff, yellow gold)
Dimensions: 35 × 23 × 2.3 cm (chokers); 18 × 30.1 × 3 cm (cuffs)
Materials: 18k pink, white or yellow gold
Limited edition: No
Availability: AP boutiques and AP Houses
Price: Upon request
For more information, visit Audemarspiguet.com.
Konstantin Chaykin Master of Days Cufflinks
Diameter: 18 mm
Height: 5.7 mm
Material: Titanium
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: Unknown
Movement: A.01-1
Functions: User-updated day indicator
Limited edition: No
Availability: Directly from Konstantin Chaykin
Price: CHF4,500 excluding taxes
For more information, visit Chaykin.ru.