You’ve seen Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s pink Escada suit, but did you clock the watch?

Our feeds were full of Sonam Kapoor Ahuja in that delicious—and frankly iconic—Escada suit last week. The post, a pregnancy announcement, racked up over 300K likes on Kapoor Ahuja’s Instagram feed. And reams have been written about the fact that the skirt suit was once worn by Princess Diana.

But eagle-eyed watch fans will have been more interested in the equally iconic black ceramic Audemars Piguet (AP) watch on her wrist. The mid-sized 34mm Royal Oak self-winding model, part of her personal collection, is already a hype watch and on the wishlist of almost every collector.

It’s not the only AP in her collection. Kapoor has a Royal Oak Mini (23mm) in frosted gold (which she paired with a custom Tarun Tahiliani piece for a recent wedding), and at Wimbledon this year she borrowed husband Anand Ahuja’s 41mm Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Moon Phase timepiece to wear with her pinstriped Ralph Lauren suit.

But let’s get back to the black ceramic watch.

The Royal Oak is already a tough watch to buy. Its pop cultural cachet has been carefully built up over the last two decades through associations with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Schumacher, and Jay-Z. It’s made in ‘limited quantities’ and cannot just be bought off the shelf—like many holy grail watches. One must earn the privilege.

Then there is the materiality of the watch. Dubbed by watch bible Hodinkee as the brand that “made black ceramic the hottest metal in watchmaking”, Audemars Piguet dropped its first all-ceramic timepiece in 2017. The material is ultra tough and sleek, as well as scratch- and crack-resistant. It’s produced in partnership with the family-owned Swiss firm Bangerter, which makes precision components from advanced ceramics and tungsten carbide. The ceramic-making process itself is complex, with the ingredients heated to 1,400 degrees Celsius before they are moulded into pieces for the timepiece. But it was the second full-ceramic version of the Royal Oak, launched in 2019, that apparently kick-started the hype around the material.

Audemars Piguet’s commitment to this luxe material was on show for its 150th anniversary earlier this year as it released two gorgeous Royal Oak Offshore models (at a chunky 42mm), one in all-black and one with a matte olive bezel.

The Royal Oak’s origin story is also pretty impressive. Designed by the legendary Gérald Genta (dubbed the Picasso of Watchmaking), it presented a revolution in watch design when it was released in 1972. It was the first steel sports watch “with a water resistance that has never been done before”. Inspired by the safety seal of a diver’s suit, Genta sketched the now-iconic octagonal dial with eight screws.

A more demure version was developed in 1976, when AP hired their first female head of product design, Jacqueline Dimier. Her appointment itself was a revolution in the male-dominated watch world.

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s ceramic watch is a version of Dimier’s original design. Besides the ceramic case and strap, it features pink gold screws and hour markers that sit on a Grande Tapisserie pattern dial. This is an icon for an icon.