All About the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver, usually known simply as the “AP Diver” to collectors, is the most aggressively sporty watch in the storied watchmaker’s lineup. The word “elegant” is often used to describe the original Royal Oak–but not so much the Royal Oak Offshore, and certainly not the Diver. With a prominent bezel, angular case shape, and eye-catching tapisserie dial, it’s a watch that doesn’t fly under the radar. AP Divers are most easily distinguished from other Offshores by their rubber-clad (and later ceramic) rotating crown at 10 o’clock, which operates its timing rehaut–an interesting alternative to a typical dive bezel. Although it has maintained a 42mm diameter and rubber strap since its origin in 2005, the Diver has been made in more than 30 configurations and colors across several generations at this point. In this article, we’ll take you through all the iterations of the Royal Oak Offshore Diver–Audemars Piguet’s only true dive watch.

AP Divers are instantly recognizable to collectors who know what to look for. Before we take you through the history of the Diver, we’ll discuss some of its key traits.

Characteristics of the AP Royal Oak Offshore Diver

Dial	Méga tapisserie pattern, always black until 2014
Case Size	42mm diameter 12.8-14.8mm thick
Case Material	Stainless steel (most common), forged carbon, black or white ceramic, white gold, pink gold, tantalum, or platinum (only 5 made)
Caseback	Solid at first; exhibition casebacks for references that debuted 2013 or later
Notable Features	Rotating timing rehaut operated by crown at 10:00 Rubber-clad crowns/pushers (ceramic on models debuting 2018 or later)
Bracelet/Strap	Rubber strap (interchangeable feature and leather option added in 2021)
Depth Rating	300m

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver History

The Royal Oak Offshore Diver is a variation of the chunky Royal Oak Offshore. When the Offshore debuted in 1993, the designer of the original Royal Oak, Gerald Genta, reportedly said “You have spoilt my watch; you’re a murderer!” The original ROO has often been described as “masculine” and the Diver certainly could be too. In most cases, Divers actually have thinner casebacks than typical Offshores.

Before landing on the name “Diver” when it became a regular part of their lineup in 2010, Audemars Piguet experimented with the name “Scuba” on some limited-edition divers (lowercase “d”) from 2005-2009. There was also a flyback chronograph ROO released in 2005, and a standard chronograph lineup that came much later. AP is now on their third generation of “proper” Royal Oak Offshore Diver. Before we take you through each generation in detail, let’s give you a quick overview of AP Diver history:

AP Diver Timeline

1972	Audemars Piguet Royal Oak debuts
1993	Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore introduced
2005	The Royal Oak Offshore Scuba appears exclusively at Wempe (210 pieces total)
2006	“Boutique Special Edition” Scuba debuts. It would be sold in three limited colorways (300 pieces total).
2007	The “Bartorelli” Scuba model (ref. 15702AU) is released in PVD-coated steel to celebrate the jeweler’s 125th anniversary (50 pieces).
2009	5 examples of the platinum-cased “Scuba Montenapoleone” (ref. 15704PR) released at AP’s Milan boutique
2010	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba renamed Royal Oak Offshore Diver, enters regular production (ref. 1570x).
2013	Forged carbon and black ceramic Diver models debut. The ceramic reference, and every Diver since, features an exhibition caseback.
2014	White ceramic Diver debuts with a white dial (the first non-black AP Diver dial).
2015	New generation of AP Diver: Ref. 15710ST replaces the old 15703.
2016	AP Diver Chronograph released (1,200 pieces total) with colorful dials.
2017	Blue, lime, orange, yellow, and white are added as dial options for the 15710ST.
2018	Even more colors of Royal Oak Offshore Diver released (turquoise, purple, beige, khaki green) including the “Japan Edition” Diver with 18k pink gold case and titanium bezel (ref. 15711OI)
2021	Newest generation of Royal Oak Offshore Diver debuts (ref. 1572x) with Calibre 4308 movements

2005-2009: Royal Oak Offshore Scuba

Although Audemars Piguet has made a dazzling array of watch complications throughout their impressive history, surprisingly, they had never made a dive watch before 2005, when Wempe was celebrating the 100th anniversary of their subsidiary formerly known as Hamburger Chronometerwerke. Wempe collaborated with AP to create the Royal Oak Offshore Scuba reference 15340, of which 210 were made (35 in rose gold and 175 in steel). At the bottom of the dial is the logo for Wempe, where they were exclusively sold.

Audemars Piguet liked the idea of the Offshore Scuba enough to make 300 examples to sell at their own boutiques starting in 2006 at $13,900 each, this time with Arabic numerals (and no Wempe logo). The 300 Royal Oak Offshore Scuba Boutique Edition models (reference 15701ST) were split evenly between three rehaut colors: black, blue, and red. The black Boutique Scubas have orange numerals rather than white.

The Scuba never entered regular production, but AP did make two more rare limited versions for specific retailers. A PVD-coated Scuba model with a bronze bezel (ref. 15702AU, 50 pieces) was sold exclusively at Bartorelli, an Italian retailer who was celebrating their 125th anniversary in 2007. And lastly, a very special platinum Scuba with a pink gold bezel (ref. 15704PR, known as the “Montenapoleone” and limited to only 5 pieces) was sold at AP’s Milan boutique in 2009.

Although these models officially were named “Scuba,” they certainly have all the key characteristics of what collectors think of when they hear the term “AP Diver.” And we also have to mention another AP dive watch from 2005 that didn’t yet officially have the name “Diver.” To me, if it has the signature rubber-clad rotating crown at 10 o’clock, it’s an AP Diver. And this next one is an interesting one:

2005-2006: Alinghi Polaris Flyback Chronograph

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Polaris Flyback Chronograph (ref. 26040ST) is a limited-edition watch (2,000 pieces) created to commemorate the partnership between Audemars Piguet and the Alinghi sailing team, which won the America’s Cup in 2003. Not only is it a flyback chronograph, but it also features a 10-minute regatta countdown timer. The large Arabic numerals and red accents give it a loud early-2000’s vibe, and the timing rehaut counts down instead of up. After the Alinghi Polaris, AP put the chronograph Royal Oak Diver idea on hold for a decade.

2010-2015: 1570x AP Diver

The AP 15703ST was launched in 2010 as the first officially-named Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver, with an MSRP of $15,200 at the time. The Diver was given the then-newish in-house AP Caliber 3120 movement, and it maintained a solid caseback. Although it’s a great movement, it added more than 1mm of thickness compared to the JLC-based Scubas. With a case height of 13.9mm, the 15703 Diver is sizable, but not unwieldy. All of the Scuba models were limited editions, so the 15703 was the first regular-production dive watch from AP.

In 2013, Audemars Piguet released a forged carbon ROO Diver with a ceramic bezel (ref. 15706AU), which was their first non-steel dive watch aside from the ultra-limited pink gold and platinum Scuba models. Later in 2013, they released a fully black ceramic model (ref. 15707CE), the first Diver with an exhibition caseback:

The next year, in 2014, the first AP Diver with a non-black dial appeared: a white ceramic version (ref. 15707CB) was released with a white dial and blue accents. Today, the white ceramic Royal Oak Offshore Diver sells for about 2.5x as much as the black version on the secondhand market.

Audemars Piguet also made a two-tone Diver in 2014: a tantalum and pink gold reference known as the “QE II Cup” version (ref. 15709TR, limited to 150 pieces) commemorates the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, a famous annual horse race in Hong Kong.

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2015-2021: 1571x AP Diver

The next generation of AP Diver maintained the same case shape and even kept the same movement, but it got an exhibition caseback along with a change in material and color options. Although AP experimented with a variety of case materials on the 1570x Diver references, they focused fully on steel when the 15710ST diver came out in 2015 with a sticker price of $19,000. The 15710ST was offered in a total of 11 dial colors, although only black and silver were available at launch. White, blue, lime, orange, and yellow dials entered the picture in 2017 while turquoise, purple, beige and khaki became options in 2018.

Also in 2018, the last reference of the 1571x lineup (and the only one that isn’t a 15710ST) appeared exclusively at Japanese boutiques (ref. 15711OI). 500 examples of the “Japan Diver” were made, and its pink gold case combined with its light grey dial and titanium bezel makes it one of the most visually appealing AP Divers of all. In a first for the lineup, its crowns are ceramic rather than rubber-clad.

2016-2018: AP Diver Chronograph

My personal favorite subset of a subset of a subset of the Royal Oak Collection is the Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph (ref. 26703ST). From 2016-2018, Audemars Piguet produced 1,200 examples of the Diver Chrono, all in steel. It was made in four bright colorways, of which lime is by far the rarest (50 pieces). MSRP was $27,900. At 14.8mm, it’s the thickest Diver of all.

2021+: 15720 AP Diver

The latest evolution of the Royal Oak Offshore Diver is the 15720 model, which debuted in 2021 with an upgraded movement–the beautifully-finished Caliber 4308. The color options have been pared down this time: the steel Diver (ref. 15720ST) is only available with a grey, blue, or khaki green dial. A limited-edition white gold version (ref. 15720CN, 300 pieces) was made in 2022 with a black ceramic bezel.

The newest generation of Diver maintains the look and shape of its predecessors, and it gains an optional interchangeable leather strap for those looking for something besides rubber. The 15720 can be easily identified by the large simple “AP” logo at the top of the dial–previous versions had “Audemars Piguet” spelled out. Also, rubber-clad crowns are now a thing of the past, having been superseded by ceramic.

What is the depth rating of the AP Diver?

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver models have a water resistance of 300m–the same as a Rolex Submariner, and significantly greater than a typical Royal Oak (50m) or Royal Oak Offshore (100m).

How much does an AP Royal Oak Offshore Diver cost?

The current Royal Oak Offshore Diver, ref. 15720ST, has a suggested retail price of $30,200, which is close to its market value. In fact, that’s roughly the market price for most steel AP Divers of any age, while non-steel versions often go for twice that.

Here we’ll show you a chart of every AP ROO Diver model ever made, including approximate market prices as of 2023:

Guide to All AP Diver References

Reference	Name	Case Material	Case Thickness	Dial Color	Movement	Year Debuted	# Made	Market Price (2023)
15340ST.OO.D002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba Wempe Edition	Steel	12.8mm	Black	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2005	175	$25,000
15340OR.OO.D002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba Wempe Edition	Pink Gold	12.8mm	Black	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2005	35	$60,000
15701ST.OO.D002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba Boutique Edition	Steel	12.8mm	Black with orange Arabics	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2006	100	$23,000
15701ST.OO.D002CA.02	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba Boutique Edition	Steel	12.8mm	Black with blue rehaut	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2007	100	$25,000
15701ST.OO.D002CA.03	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba Boutique Edition	Steel	12.8mm	Black with red rehaut	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2008	100	$25,000
15702AU.OO.D002CR.01	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba “Bartorelli”	PVD Steel, Bronze Bezel	12.8mm	Black	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2007	50	$25,000
15704PR.OO.D002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Scuba “Montenapoleone”	Platinum, Pink Gold Bezel	12.8mm	Dark Green	AP 2325/2810 (JLC base)	2009	5	$125,000
26040ST.D002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Polaris Flyback Chronograph	Steel	14.7mm	Black	AP 2326/2848	2005	2,000	$23,000
15703ST.OO.A002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	13.9mm	Black	AP 3120	2010	Not Limited	$23,000
15706AU.00.A002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Forged Carbon	13.9mm	Black	AP 3120	2013	Not Limited	$28,000
15707CE.OO.A002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Black Ceramic	13.9mm	Black	AP 3120	2013	Not Limited	$28,000
15707CB.OO.A010CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	White Ceramic	13.9mm	White, navy accents	AP 3120	2014	Not Limited	$65,000
15709TR.OO.A005CR.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver QE II Cup Edition	Tantalum. Pink Gold Bezel	13.9mm	Black	AP 3120	2014	150	$45,000
26703ST.OO.A027CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph	Steel	14.8mm	Blue, yellow accents	AP 3124/3841	2016	400	$30,000
26703ST.OO.A051CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph	Steel	14.8mm	Yellow	AP 3124/3841	2016	375	$30,000
26703ST.OO.A070CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph	Steel	14.8mm	Orange	AP 3124/3841	2016	375	$30,000
26703ST.OO.A038CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver Chronograph	Steel	14.8mm	Lime	AP 3124/3841	2016	50	$45,000
15710ST.OO.A002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Black	AP 3120	2015	Not Limited	$25,000
15710ST.OO.A002CA.02	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Silver	AP 3120	2015	Not Limited	$25,000
15710ST.OO.A027CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Blue, yellow accents	AP 3120	2017	Not Limited	$28,000
15710ST.OO.A010CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	White, navy accents	AP 3120	2017	Not Limited (Boutique only)	$28,000
15710ST.OO.A038CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Lime	AP 3120	2017	Not Limited (Boutique only)	$45,000
15710ST.OO.A070CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Orange	AP 3120	2017	Not Limited	$28,000
15710ST.OO.A051CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Yellow	AP 3120	2017	Not Limited	$28,000
15710ST.OO.A032CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Turquoise	AP 3120	2018	Not Limited	$45,000
15710ST.OO.A077CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Purple	AP 3120	2018	Not Limited	$45,000
15710ST.OO.A052CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Khaki Green	AP 3120	2018	Not Limited	$28,000
15710ST.OO.A085CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.1mm	Beige	AP 3120	2018	Not Limited	$28,000
15711OI.OO.A006CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Pink Gold, Titanium Bezel	14.1mm	Light Grey	AP 3120	2018	500	$50,000
15720ST.OO.A009CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.2mm	Grey	AP 4038	2021	Not Limited	$30,000
15720ST.OO.A027CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.2mm	Blue	AP 4038	2021	Not Limited	$32,000
15720ST.OO.A052CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	Steel	14.2mm	Khaki Green	AP 4038	2021	Not Limited	$34,000
15720CN.OO.A002CA.01	Royal Oak Offshore Diver	White Gold, Ceramic Bezel	14.2mm	Black	AP 4038	2022	300	$50,000

That covers everything you need to know about the iconic Royal Oak Offshore Diver. We’ll be sure to keep you updated if and when Audemars Piguet releases new variants! Do you have a favorite Diver reference? Let us know in the comments!