Audemars Piguet

About Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet has been family-run in Le Brassus since 1875, and for most of that time it made complicated dress watches in precious metal. Then in 1972 it gambled on the Royal Oak: a steel sports watch designed overnight by Gérald Genta, priced above gold competitors, with an octagonal bezel held by eight visible hexagonal screws and a bracelet integrated into the case. It rewrote what a luxury watch could be.

Signature models

The references that define the house — and the ones you are most likely to meet.

• Royal Oak 'Jumbo' 15202
• Royal Oak Offshore
• Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
• Code 11.59
• Royal Oak Concept

What to look for

Details worth checking before you trust a dial. None of them certify authenticity on their own.

• A tapisserie dial — a waffle pattern cut on a century-old rose-engine — with perfectly uniform pyramids
• Alternating brushed and polished surfaces on the bracelet, with hand-finished bevels between them
• The eight bezel screws should be aligned identically, secured from the caseback side, not the front
• Screwed-in caseback and the AP hallmark; movement finishing includes Côtes de Genève on the rotor and bridges

Facts

• The Royal Oak was named after a series of Royal Navy warships, themselves named after the oak tree Charles II hid in.
• Its 1972 launch price was roughly ten times that of a steel Rolex Submariner, and it took years to sell the first batch.