Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Watches, Pre-Owned

Which Royal Oak: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, Offshore or three-hand

Buy the three-hand Royal Oak when it will be on your wrist every day. It goes with a suit or a T-shirt, and with no stopwatch on it the dial stays clean. The Chronograph is that Royal Oak with a stopwatch built in, run from the pushers beside the crown and read on three small subdials, and it sits a little thicker. The Offshore is the Royal Oak built heavier and sportier, most often with a stopwatch of its own, and it shows from across a room.

Reference numbers: AP Royal Oak 15500ST, 15400ST, 26331ST and the Offshore

Read the reference on a listing before the dial, because it names the Royal Oak in front of you. The ST after the number means stainless steel.

• 15500ST: the three-hand Royal Oak in 41 mm steel. One is for sale.
• 15400ST: the 41 mm three-hand that came before the 15500ST. Two are on the page, both sold out, so ask the desk to find one.
• 26331ST: the Royal Oak Chronograph in 41 mm steel. Four are for sale, in blue, black and the Panda.
• Royal Oak Offshore: the 42 mm Volcano in steel is for sale, and its listing names no reference. The 39 mm two-tone Offshore, steel and yellow gold, is sold out.
• No reference named: the 41 mm iced-out Royal Oak, one for sale. Ask the desk for its number.

The code after the dots, like .OO.1220ST.01, names the setting, the bracelet and the dial. Where our 26331ST listings give the full code, .01 is blue and .02 is black.

The dial: blue, black, gray or Panda Royal Oak dial, and the Tapisserie

Pick blue, black or rhodium gray for a dial that wears with anything, or the Panda for a Chronograph that stands out. Most Royal Oak dials carry the Tapisserie, a fine grid of raised squares that catches the light as the wrist turns. The Panda sets black subdials against a white dial. Arabic numerals read louder than the stick markers most Royal Oaks wear.

Iced out: iced out AP watch, diamond Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Buy an iced-out Royal Oak for the look, and know that the one for sale here is custom work. The diamonds on the case, the bezel and the bracelet went on after the watch left the factory, and its listing says aftermarket. That makes it a different watch from the one Audemars Piguet made, so judge it as a piece of jewelry. No listing names the grade of the stones or says natural or lab-grown, so ask the desk.

Card and box: Audemars Piguet box and papers, or the watch alone

The foot of each description says what comes with the watch, and it is the first thing to check. It runs from a complete set with the box and the card down to No Card / Papers, where the watch comes alone and a box can be added. The card, or the papers, is the maker's record of that watch and its serial, and it makes the history easier to trace. Where a listing gives no year, or only a range, ask the desk what dates the watch.

Before you pay: questions for the watch desk, shipping and final sale

Our refund policy takes no watch back, so every question belongs before the order. Name the Royal Oak you are looking at on the live chat, or text its reference to the watch desk at 212-872-9692, which takes calls too, from 10 AM ET. Ask for its service history, and send your wrist size, because the spare links that travel with a pre-owned bracelet differ from watch to watch. A watch in stock is usually packed and sent within two to five business days, the shipping policy says, and it travels insured. The desk also hunts through the trade for a Royal Oak we do not have, by reference or by dial.