At SIHH 2017, Swiss Audemars Piguet celebrated color - which is clearly the focus for these versions of the popular Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver 15710ST. The independent brand's offerings are light on novelty but rich in hue, and known as the "Funky Colour Editions." As such, the company is likely doing what is smart this year as they continue to navigate uncertain economic waters where pouring R&D money into totally new products can be seen as a bit unwise. Despite understanding this fact of necessary prudence, it makes being a watch blogger tough since we are always hungry for annual "newness." With that said, Audemars Piguet continues to remind myself and colleagues that our desire for "all things Royal Oak" is by no means a new feeling.

For 2017, the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver watches are all in steel, but celebrate a host of bold visual styles which echo other products already produced by the brand, as well as a color theme which you can find in other new-for-2017 Audemars Piguet watches such as the much more expensive Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph Selfwinding Limited Edition pieces.

Buy Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver Orange Watch on BitDials

Each of the models comes in a finely finished 42mm-wide steel case that is water resistant to 300 meters. A hallmark design element of the Royal Oak Offshore Diver is the inner rotating timing bezel which is operated by the crown located at 10 o'clock. It appears that the blue-colored crowns are coated in vulcanized rubber. Attached to the cases are extremely high-quality rubber Royal Oak Offshore tapering straps in colors to match the bold hues of the watches. Interestingly, blue is the common color across all these new models, and in order to provide a more "safely conservative" option, Audemars Piguet includes an extra blue-colored strap with each watch. The model that already comes on a blue strap gets an extra yellow strap to go with it. That 15710ST.OO.A027CA.01 piece might actually be the coolest model when on the yellow strap.

Buy Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver Blue Watch on BitDials

The dials are what you'd expect, save for the new colors. The Mega Tapisserie face is fitted with 18k white gold bold hour markers and very legible matching hands. The white and blue dials are likely to be the most calming to look at over long periods of time, while the green, orange, and yellow ones might be prone to causing "funky headaches" if you aren't in the right mood to glance at such bold colors all the time.

Buy Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver White Watch on BitDials

Inside the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver is the Audemars Piguet caliber 3120 automatic movement. It operates at 3Hz (21,600bph) with a power reserve of 60 hours. These always have a lovely degree of finishing and decoration, and Audemars Piguet has maintained the 300m water-resistance while offering a sapphire crystal display caseback with a view of the movement and engraved 22k gold rotor.

If you are an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak fan and already have a few conservatively-colored Audemars Piguet models in your collection then adding one of these Funky Colour Editions is likely what Audemars Piguet feels you might want to do. The brand's current strategy is clearly focused on the popularity of the Royal Oak, and part of that means selling more models to existing customers. Read more...

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Source & image source: ablogtowatch