Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold Chronograph White Gold — Black Grande Tapisserie Dial | Ref. 26239BC.GG.1224BC.02

The Florentine goldsmithing technique known as hammered or "frosted" gold — revived in partnership with jeweller Carolina Bucci — gives this Royal Oak Chronograph an extraordinary surface treatment: thousands of micro-facets created by hand-hammering the gold with a diamond-tipped burnishing tool, scattering light in every direction with an effect impossible to replicate by machine. On the 41 mm white gold case and integrated bracelet of reference 26239BC, this treatment creates a brilliant, frosted luminosity that contrasts dramatically with the polished black Grande Tapisserie dial.

Calibre 4401, Audemars Piguet's in-house flyback chronograph movement, provides the mechanical foundation: a 70-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph, column-wheel control, and flyback functionality that allows simultaneous stop-reset-start with a single pusher action. The octagonal case — in frosted white gold, with a screw-locked crown and exhibition caseback — maintains the Royal Oak's formal continuity while the surface treatment radically reinterprets its character. Model year 2021–2022 places this reference in the post-4401 generation.

The black Grande Tapisserie dial, framed by the frosted white gold bezel and case, achieves a stark graphic power: the checked guilloché catches light between the deep black of the dial surface, while applied white gold hour-markers and luminous hands ensure legibility at all times. The integrated frosted white gold bracelet, with AP folding clasp, completes a Royal Oak Chronograph that is at once deeply traditional in its mechanical specification and genuinely radical in its finishing. An exceptional piece from the 2021 generation.