The Royal Oak, 1972 to now: Genta’s steel idea and how it grew

A commission and a childhood memory

On April 11, 1970, Georges Golay asked Gérald Genta to draw something unprecedented: a steel watch. Genta had already started his own brand the year before, and he would later sell it to Bulgari in the early 2000s.

Genta reached back to childhood. He remembered the divers’ helmets he had seen before the Rhône. That memory became a watch with exposed screw heads and an integrated steel bracelet.

The design was finished in 1971. Genta also designed the Patek Philippe Nautilus and, in 1976, the Ingenieur SL for IWC.

Basel, 1972

The watch was unveiled on April 15, 1972, at the Basel Fair, in the thick of the quartz crisis. Audemars Piguet showed it with a 39mm stainless steel case, an octagonal bezel and those visible screws.

Carlo de Marchi, the Italian agent, coined the name. It nods to Royal Navy warships, which themselves recalled the Royal Oak that sheltered Charles II.

The price was part of the shock. The watch launched at 3,300 Swiss francs, many times what a contemporary Rolex Submariner cost.

The 5402 in numbers

The first model was the 5402, with the Calibre 2121 movement inside its 39mm case. Between 1972 and 2002 it was made in 6,050 units. Steel dominated with 4,288 pieces, followed by 876 in two-tone, 736 in yellow gold and 150 in white gold.

The yellow gold 5402BA was made between 1977 and 1990. Audemars Piguet stopped production of the original reference in 1990.

The nickname Jumbo later passed between models. By 2000 the 15202 was the fourth Royal Oak to carry it, after the 5402, the 14802 and the 15002. The 15002ST was made in 1996 and 1997, and the 15202ST followed around 1999.

Slow start, then a growing family

Sales began slowly. The Shah of Iran was the first customer. In 1972, 490 were sold and the count passed 500 in 1973. By 1978 the figure reached 820 watches.

The family began to widen. The first women’s model, the 8638 drawn by Jacqueline Dimier, arrived in 1976. In 1977 came the 35mm Model 4100 as an intermediate size, and the first gold versions appeared. Between 1977 and 1981 the company created 27 new Royal Oak models.

Quartz joined in 1980 with Calibre 2502 models. Then complications began: calendar and moon phase in 1983, a perpetual calendar in 1984, an openworked version in 1986, and a leap year indicator in 1995.

The Beast and the Concept

In 1993 the Royal Oak Offshore arrived, designed by Emmanuel Gueit. Its case measured 42mm against the original 39mm, and it was thought to be tougher. Its large case earned it the nickname “the Beast.”

The Tropical Beast, shown at Baselworld in 1996, is widely considered the first novel Offshore variation. More than 130 variations now exist in the line.

In 2002 Claude Emmenegger created the high-tech Royal Oak Concept. One later example, the Black Panther, was limited to 250 pieces and listed at $162,000 in 2021.

A house with a long memory

Audemars Piguet did not only look forward. The company made the first minute-repeating wristwatch movement in 1892 and developed the first skeleton watch in 1934. In 1986 came Calibre 2870, an ultra-thin automatic tourbillon wristwatch.

Some newer lines look back openly. The Code 11.59, released at SIHH 2019, is based on a watch from 1899. The [Re]Master01, a self-winding chronograph, launched in 2020 as a limited edition of 500, and the [Re]Master02 followed in Spring 2024, limited to 250, as a tribute to a 1960 Brutalist-inspired watch.

In December 2025 the Grosse Pièce pocket watch sold for $7.7 million at auction.

Fifty years on

In 2002 the company introduced its in-house caliber 3120, and the Royal Oak Date used it in 2005. For the 50th anniversary in 2022, Ref. 16202 appeared with the new automatic Calibre 7121, which offers 55 hours of power reserve.

The 2022 novelties also included sand gold and Calibre 7138. The Royal Oak now counts over 500 models.