Audemars Piguet celebrates 50 years of Royal Oak

Cue the bells.

The 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak has been cause for celebration at Audemars Piguet, which has launched a slew of new models in its iconic range. This fall, the line further expands with some colorful new variations on technical pieces, which blend cutting-edge technology with au courant style — all while preserving the iconic 1972 design that Swiss watchmaker and artist Gérald Genta famously sketched out in a single evening.

Making its debut in September as a US exclusive (before expanding its reach around the world), the limited-edition Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon is an evolution of the 50th Anniversary Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon launched earlier this year in steel, titanium and 18-karat pink gold, powered by the brand’s latest-gen Calibre 2950 and fitted with a 50-year winding rotor. Limited to 50 pieces without the commemorative rotor, the new titanium special edition flaunts a little more pizzazz with a vibrant, smoked blue-green Grande Tapisserie dial, set with baguette-cut diamonds to mark the 12 o’clock hour.

Designers also dressed up the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in a sleek, 41 mm blue ceramic case, fitted with a matching satin-finish ceramic bracelet. Even the Grande Tapisserie dial and subdials go all-in on the cool, 50-shades-of-blue vibe. Using lightweight, scratch-resistant ceramic in an elegantly slender case endows the age-old perpetual calendar with 21st-century modernity and sport-chic appeal.

Artisans in Le Brassus, Switzerland, meticulously hand-finish each ceramic component in the same fashion as metal, in order to accentuate light play on the multifaceted surfaces. Showcased through the clear sapphire caseback, the automatic Calibre 5134 is a classic perpetual calendar that automatically adjusts for months of varying lengths, theoretically until 2100. (So long as your descendants keep it continuously wound and running.)

Royal Oak also served up the shade du jour in high-end watches with a new iteration of the 44 mm Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT in sandblasted titanium, now outfitted with a bezel, crown and push-piece in green ceramic. Even the black architectural movement, showcased through the dial and sapphire caseback, features matching green inserts, putting a fresh spin on the Concept’s technical aesthetic.

Black is anything but basic when it comes to the smoking hot, all-noir ceramic 41 mm Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph. It’s powered by the brand’s automatic Calibre 4401 and equipped with an integrated flyback chronograph function, designed for split-second accuracy that allows wearers to instantly stop, reset and restart the chronograph timing function all with a single push. And we’re still reeling from the spell cast by last summer’s black-magical Selfwinding Carolina Bucci Limited Edition 34 mm, with a laser-engraved sapphire dial appointed with pink-gold accents.

Last spring’s 39 mm Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Extra-Thin RD#3 50th Anniversary — the first “Jumbo” with an automatic flying tourbillon — certainly caused a sensation. For fall, Audemars Piguet pushed the technical envelope even further, downsizing it to 37 mm for thinner wrists, thanks to its latest ultrathin, self-winding, flying tourbillon movement: the Calibre 2968, which measures a mere 3.4 mm thick. The watchmaker also switched out the signature blue Petite Tapisserie dial for an unconventional and intriguing shade of regal plum.

There’s no doubt that 2022 has been a banner year for the iconic watch, with a remarkable array of new models that embody the evolution of the collection over half a century. And while Audemars Piguet has introduced advanced movements and subtle tweaks to cases, bracelets and dials, it has also carefully preserved the enduring 1972 codes that made Royal Oak the legend that it is. Long may it reign.

Once upon a time: A half-century of Royal Oak makes for a real page turner

Call it a tale as old as time. Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet and the luxury publishing house Assouline have teamed up to tell the story of the first 50 years of the brand’s flagship model in regal fashion with the milestone book “Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon.”

Author Bill Prince, an award-winning journalist and former deputy editor of British GQ, brings a broader cultural context to the history of Royal Oak, which caused a stir among watch purists when it was unveiled at the Baselworld trade fair in 1972.

At the time, the traditional, mechanical watch industry was reeling from the advent of inexpensive, superaccurate quartz watches. Like other struggling brands,
Audemars Piguet needed to shake things up to survive.

Designed by the legendary Gérald Genta, Audemars Piguet’s revolutionary Royal Oak set a new paradigm, combining a 39 mm hand-finished, stainless-steel case with an octagonal bezel fixed with eight hexagonal screws, an integrated link bracelet and a blue dial engraved with a Petite Tapisserie grid pattern. Inside beat the beautifully finished automatic Calibre 2121, the thinnest automatic mechanical movement of the time.

Nicknamed “Jumbo,” the Royal Oak’s unprecedented fusion of rugged steel and elegant horology reflected its transformative midcentury moment, while laying down a marker for the future of watchmaking.

“We had to invent a model both sporty and stylish in spirit, suitable for evening wear and for the daily activities of today’s man of taste,” explained Georges Golay, Audemars Piguet’s managing director from 1966 to 1987, who is quoted in the book. Today, that description sums up the most popular and coveted watches in the world, including the Royal Oak.

The weighty volume highlights key models in the Royal Oak’s evolution, including this year’s anniversary collection, interwoven with archival materials discovered by the brand’s Heritage department. There’s also imagery of the groundbreaking art, architecture, fashion and music that has influenced the cultural zeitgeist of the past six decades.

Prince also introduces the voices of Audemars Piguet’s notable fans and ambassadors, including celebrities Kevin Hart, Elle Macpherson and Serena Williams to name a few. According to the book, this “Generation Royal Oak” — aficionados who came of age during the model’s reign — represents a group of movers and shakers whose refusal to follow the crowd echoes the enduring spirit of their favorite watch.

Photographer: Jeffrey Westbrook; Prop stylist: Alex Brannian.