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When Audemars Piguet wanted to celebrate 40 years of the women’s Royal Oak
The brand turned to someone outside of traditional watchmaking. Not a designer from the Vallée de Joux, but a Florentine jeweler known for texture, contrast, and craftsmanship: Carolina Bucci. What followed was an unexpected and quietly radical collaboration — one that challenged the boundaries of what the Royal Oak could be, both technically and aesthetically.
First released in 2016, the Royal Oak Frosted Gold by Carolina Bucci didn’t feature a gem-set bezel or mother-of-pearl dial. Instead, it reimagined the watch’s entire surface using a centuries-old Florentine jewelry technique: a micro-hammered gold finish that shimmered like diamond dust without using a single stone. It was, in Bucci’s words, “a watch that shines, but without diamonds.”
The collaboration has since evolved into a lasting partnership that spans multiple releases, including mirror dials, black ceramic, and playful twists. But behind the striking sparkle lies a deeper story about material innovation, artistic risk, and one of the most successful women-led collaborations in modern watchmaking.
Designing Frosted Gold
Before Carolina Bucci ever touched a Royal Oak, she was already known for reinterpreting centuries-old goldsmithing techniques in contemporary jewelry. Her family had been working in Florence for generations, and she made her mark by specializing in the the ancient art of Florentine hammering (also known as the Florentine Finish) — a technique involving a diamond-tipped tool used to repeatedly tap the surface of gold, creating a fine, shimmering texture.
When Audemars Piguet asked her to reinterpret the Royal Oak for women, she brought Florentine Finish into the conversation. It wasn’t an easy proposition. Translating a hand-crafted surface technique onto a case and bracelet made of gold required vision and industrial feasibility. The biggest challenge was that the Royal Oak’s entire design language is based on clean, flat planes, especially on the bracelet, where each link is beveled and brushed to perfection.
Adding texture to that surface risked compromising the geometry that makes the Royal Oak what it is. But through a close partnership between Bucci and the engineers at Le Brassus, the Florentine Finish was reworked for watchmaking. Specialized tools and controlled hammering pressure ensured that the surface sparkled without softening the sharp lines of the Royal Oak. The final result was something Audemars Piguet had never done before — a watch that shimmered like pavé, but with no gemstones. It was pure metal, manipulated through touch, and it was dubbed Frosted Gold.
The first models debuted in November 2016 in Florence — Bucci’s home city — and included the Royal Oak Frosted Gold in both 33mm (ref. 67653BC and 67653OR) and 37mm (ref. 15454BC and 15454OR) case sizes, available in either white or rose gold. The watches kept the hallmark features of the Royal Oak intact: the “Tapisserie” dial, integrated bracelet, and octagonal bezel, but the entire case and bracelet shimmered with the new finish. It was delicate and bold at the same time, but more importantly, it didn’t look like any other women’s watch on the market.
Beyond Frosted: Mirror Dials, Ceramic, and Creative Freedom
The success of the 2016 Frosted Gold models proved that there was room — and appetite — for women’s watches that weren’t simply smaller, gem-set versions of men’s pieces. Rather than scaling down or softening the Royal Oak, Carolina Bucci had helped push it into a new conceptual space grounded in texture, light, and experimentation.
That spirit carried over to the next collaboration, released in 2018. This time, Bucci turned her focus to the dial. The result was a limited-edition Royal Oak Frosted Gold (ref. 15454BA.GG.1259BA.02) with a mirrored dial — a high-polish, reflective surface set against the tactile shimmer of the hammered yellow gold case and bracelet. Gone was the “Tapisserie” pattern entirely. In its place was a smooth, silvery mirror that reflected the world around it. It was striking yet minimal. Only 300 pieces were made.
In 2022, the partnership took another unexpected turn with the Royal Oak Selfwinding 34mm Black Ceramic (ref. 77350CE.OO.1266CE.02.A). At first glance, the watch appeared stealthy and pared back, with a matte black ceramic case and bracelet. But on closer inspection, the dial was a surprise: a rainbow-colored Tapisserie surface, made from a sapphire plate treated with a spectrum-effect anti-reflective coating. The rainbow tones were only visible at certain angles, depending on how the light hit. It was playful and subtle, and again, only 300 examples were made.
By this point, the collaboration between AP and Carolina Bucci had become less of a one-off and more of an evolving dialogue between the two parties.
From Niche to Signature: Frosted Gold’s Expanded Role at AP
What began as a tribute to 40 years of the women’s Royal Oak quickly became something much larger. The success of the original Carolina Bucci editions proved that there was room in the AP lineup for bold surface experimentation, and the brand took note. In the years since the 2016 launch, Frosted Gold has transitioned from a limited collaborative design to an enduring finish that now spans a wide range of Royal Oak references.
Today, Frosted Gold isn’t confined to women’s models. It’s become a regular feature across the collection — including men’s Royal Oak models — used on midsize and full-size Royal Oaks in case diameters ranging from 23mm to 41mm. Available in white, yellow, and pink gold, the finish now extends across everything from time-only references to complicated models like chronographs, double balance wheels, and perpetual calendars.
Even among AP’s most classic offerings, Frosted Gold versions manage to feel contemporary and distinct — a result of their unusual interplay between structure and surface. While not every Frosted Gold model is a Carolina Bucci co-signed piece, the lineage is unmistakable. Her influence reshaped how Audemars Piguet approached surface finishing, and in doing so, expanded what the Royal Oak could look and feel like in the modern era.
Carolina Bucci helped Audemars Piguet prove that even the most recognizable watch icons still have room to surprise
