While much of the watch media world’s attention was riveted to the recently concluded Watches & Wonders exhibitions, and the array of noteworthy timepieces making their debut there, independent high-watchmaking maison Audemars Piguet was making major news of its own, apart from the fairs in Geneva and Shanghai. On April 10, at a star-studded virtual event in Los Angeles, broadcast worldwide, the brand announced the beginning of a partnership with Marvel Entertainment and unveiled the first timepiece to emerge from the collaboration: the Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon, a limited edition of 250 pieces.

The watch’s 42-mm case, made of 18k white gold, feature a hand-engraved motif inspired by the high-tech uniform of its namesake, Marvel’s Black Panther, aka Prince T’Challa of the futuristic, fictional African nation of Wakanda. (It’s unclear what, if any, impact Audemars Piguet’s new Marvel partnership will have on the latter’s existing partnership with Japan’s Citizen Watch Co.) The character is also fully rendered on the dial as a carved, hand-painted 3D figure in the same white-gold as the case. The hallmark octagonal bezel of the Royal Oak collection, with its eight visible hexagonal screws, surrounds an inner bezel in purple, accented with black-PVD-coated white-gold hour markers. The thick hour and minute hands are luminous-coated and the screw-locked crown is made of black cerami...