The Watch That Made Kevin O'Leary Weep

Oh my goodness! It's a gorgeous piece. It's so incredible; it has made a grown man weep. It's pure beauty.

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Hey, Mr. Wonderful here, doing what I love to do: picking up a brand new watch. Now in this case, AP Audemars Piguet. Now let me tell you what's amazing about this brand—the Octagon, that design that you see so often in the Royal Oak. You can recognize this piece across the room; there's no question about it. But let me tell you something: back in 1972, when this piece was introduced to the world, all the critics crew put it—it was not well received—which tells you something: never listen to the critics! Ever! They know nothing. You listen to your heart. Does it connect? And does it tell a story? The AP Royal Oak tells a story, and a blue dial with a steel case on a red band—smoking hot, of course it is!

Now my whole point is, when you build your portfolio over time, and if you're a collector, you get to be known by the brand. It takes decades, but I'm getting to a point here where I've got so many watches, when I want to bring in a new story, I need something that is so coveted, so hard to get, so hard to find. The Royal Oak Steel Open Work—one of a kind Shark Tank watch—a smoking hot dream!

Let alone a watch, we started talking about this project three years ago to make a piece that would really bust out in season 15 on Shark Tank—that no other shark would ever have—that would be the centerpiece of the fashionista man himself, Mr. Wonderful. The thing I love about this brand, this maison, is they understand the fashion aspect of collecting watches. In the last 10 years, what's gotten really hot is being able to change the bands. Now, you know I can only wear a red band, so I have to get a red band for every piece. I make an AP accommodates me. They have all kinds of integrations that make this possible—that's why I love this maison, that's why I love the house. They understand where I'm coming from. I gotta have red, and they search the world for the very best red bands to work in these pieces.

But their new snap-on technology, which came out recently and is really part of this wonderful new collection, the overseas—the music, the watch—I call the music. We're going to see her today. Also: fantastic integration with multiple colors. So all of this is going to happen today. You're going to go on a wild ride; you're going to see what happens when, for the first moment, you lay your eyes on a one of a kind, never made before, never seen before Royal Oak open work ruby red Shark Tank Mega watch!

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Ah, how are you? Welcome, Mr. Larry! Great to be here; thank you so much. It's our pleasure! And guess what? It's that time! We're gonna make magic happen today! Unbelievable! It's been two and a half years in the making!

Yes, this is the Magic Moment. Very few times in your life do you come to pick up a one of a kind—particularly an AP, an open work, the master class piece with rubies, steel, ready for season 15 Shark Tank. Planned this two and a half years ago! I have never seen it yet, only pictures. I'm gonna see the real thing!

So, as you know and as we know, red is your color.

Yes it is.

Okay, yes it is! So we're not gonna skip a beat when it comes to that. No point trying to sell me any other color! No, this is what I have to have. And if I pull back my shirt sleeve and it's not a red band, it's chaos!

Yes, we have clients who actually, when they do purchase a red strap, they say, "This is Mr. Wonderful!"

Well, I'm glad to hear that! But I think it's great because it's striking, it's great with my black suit I always wear, and you do such a great job of designing different textures. I mean, this is beautiful stuff! And obviously, for a sports piece—which I can consider this to be—and I want to wear this in the summer, getting a band that's going to be able to sustain the heat around my wrist is important. But still, the clasp is AP so it's keeping all the heritage—that's what I want. The quality is never skipped, so that's something that we need to always make sure that even if we try to make a watch yours, we still keep the quality the same.

Fantastic! Let's talk about when this watch came to the market for the first time. Gerald designed this, right?

Yes. So just for clarity, I'm not a historian, but I do know a bit about this watch. One reason why people don't understand why we even call it a jumbo—

Okay, now tell us about that.

Sure! So when we released a 39 millimeter in 1972, it was the biggest watch! Everything was much smaller—35 to 38!

Exactly—the 35, 36. Yeah, you're thinking about a period where most watches were either on strap, and here it comes: Audemars Piguet saying, "Look, we're gonna make a watch even bigger! So we're gonna make a 39 millimeter!"

And now it's a standard size!

Exactly! Now, we've done many versions, many variations of the Royal Oak. If you know AP, you know a jumbo!

Yeah, in fact, I can't even imagine collecting and not having a jumbo. It's a core cornerstone in the collection. Everybody says, "Let's see your jumbo!"

Yes! If you don't have it, it's an embarrassment; it's a hole!

Yes! But let's be realistic: we don't make too many watches!

It's true! But there's a secondary market. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to go to the secondary market and buy vintage to fill up. You know, I always tell people, "Look, don't go into debt in watch collecting." But as you go through life, and if you're successful in business, and you start to want to reward yourself as I do: every deal I close, it's another watch.

I'm at that stage in my life where I've, you know, built a reputation with the makers. I'm known as a collector, and so when you get to that place, once in a while, a brand will make you a one of a kind. Today I'm picking up just such a piece!

Let's talk about it!

Exactly! So just—we talk about this piece: it actually was released in 2016. So we didn't have a double balance wheel open work prior to this. And the story here is very unique as well. This piece was really put on the map by Francois and his watchmaking team. It was never on the books to design this watch; it was an accident.

So Francois was touring the manufacturing and saw a watchmaker with this watch on. One of his first questions, believe it or not, was: does the watch actually work? Because it was so open, it was so unique, he wanted to make sure that the watch tells time besides its beauty.

So now we fast forward, it's 2023—you've been waiting a long time!

Yeah! But is it unique?

Let's see! Here we are, what we've been waiting for!

Yep, just give me a moment to prepare!

Sure, take your time! Two and a half years in the making! But you have to understand, about watch collecting, it's a slow art!

It's figuring out where to go next and starting the journey, and the destination is years away. That's what happened here. You have to work with the designers to design it; that takes years itself! And then they have to make it, and then the moment comes when you see it for the first time.

Let's go!

Okay, it's magistry!

Yes! Oh my goodness, it's a gorgeous piece! It's so incredible; it has made a grown man weep. It's pure beauty! It's unbelievable; it's incredible! I can't believe I'm holding it!

Yes, it's here! And this is the best part of my job—to unwell these pieces to our clients. The only one in the world! Incredible! This watch is going to become a legend—if it's not already!

Yes! But we need to let everybody know that besides the fact that you've made this watch, there's a hint in there that it's only yours, which is the second hand reader. And it's pure red!

Yeah! When we were designing it, I begged the team: is there any way we can put this red element to match the rubies, which are stunning in themselves? Placing this incredible aura of red matching it to the second hand in red—I mean, it's unbelievable! It's stunning! And that's what makes our watches unique: it's those little hints; it's very subtle, but it tells a story. And it's telling a story about someone like you, who loves this color, who loves the brand, and who loves his timepieces.

Now, can you imagine a red band on this piece?

I've been waiting for that! Not only is it one of a kind, but the red on the steel, on the red, on the open work—which has got these wonderful tones in the dial—I mean, it's just an incredible piece. It just screams!

Oh my goodness! Let's go through the process; show us how this red band. Remember this piece was born with the steel band, but now, because AP has the adapter kits to do this, we can actually make it something truly unique and ready for television!

I mean, can you imagine this piece on TV? This is going to be insane! Insane! But that's what watchmaking is all about; that's what watch collecting is all about: to give those amazing moments, those stories. The story of this watch is legend!

Let's put the red band on.

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An absolute pillar in my collection—probably, you know, one of the greatest pieces that I've got, no question about it. It's going to really get a big coming out party; there's no question. I mean, this will be conversations for a year at least!

All right, guys, thank you so much!