2012 is the 40^th Anniversary of the iconic Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch. The Royal Oak helped usher in the era of the luxury sport watch as we know it, and it has remained a high-end watch staple ever since. Audemars Piguet eventually released the Royal Oak Offshore as a larger and even sportier collection of timepieces as what was once sporty was now formal.

With both collections being corner-stones of the famous Swiss watch brand, we’d like to see a new piece added to the collection which evolves the Royal Oak look and concept. No doubt Audemars Piguet is up to something special for their baby’s birthday, but whether we get a special limited edition or a whole new collection has yet to be announced.

We want everyone to have a nice luxury watch, but the large Swiss watch brands seem to be making that increasingly difficult. We are of course referring to the entry-level luxury watch segment, which has been neglected over the last few years. What happened? Brands started pricing watches that used to be in this range much higher. Those watches often received admirable upgrades, but the price segment was never filled with a replacement.

In 2010 and 2011 we started to see a few new models come in the entry-level price range, so we have a lot of hope that in 2012 the watch industry will once again make sure there are plenty of options for everyone.

Watches come on either straps or bracelets and in the last few years we haven’t seen too many of the latter. Bracelets (metal or otherwise) are more difficult to make and engineer compared to straps, but give many timepieces a more integrated and complete look. Over the last few years we haven’t noticed too many new bracelets beings offered on watches.

For 2012 we feel it is about time for watch brands to increase their focus on that element of the watch that you touch and operate much more than the actual case and dial.