Last year, the watch industry mourned the passing of its most famous designer, Gérald Genta. Genta’s illustrious career was in some ways a by-product of the industry he served, a cottage industry in which freelance suppliers and designers spread their talents across several brands. For Genta, these brands included Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Bulgari and of course Audemars Piguet, the company for which he created the iconic Royal Oak.
Genta designed the very first sport-luxury timepieces. But what does that mean, exactly? Genta’s iconic sport-luxury watches were made from steel with an integrated bracelet, and were far from the inexpensive alternative to gold we’ve come to expect of steel timepieces. The practice of making steel watches was still in its infancy when the first prototypes of the Royal Oak were machined from white gold—a measure enlisted to reduce prototyping costs.
This year, a watch that is probably Genta’s most famous, the Royal Oak, marks its fortieth year, and the watch company entrusted with this famous legacy, Audemars Piguet, did not disappoint when debuting a host of anniversary Royal Oak timepieces.
While we were at SIHH, the fine people at AP were good enough to present us with the range of new Royal Oak men’s pieces as well as a couple of others.
