Audemars piguet royal oak chronograph3/16/2023 ![]() ![]() Both Gerald Genta and Audemars Piguet likely agree that your wristwatch being both distinctive in appearance and recognizable to others are necessary components of a wristwatch becoming more than just a nice product, but a genuine personality unto itself.Ī discussion of Gerald Genta’s later design work and the contents of his eponymous brand are a subject for an entirely different discussion. It is in those latter areas where he excelled the most and his prescience on this subject was not only ahead of his time but clearly captures the emotions many luxury watch wearers have today. In my opinion this statement has been taken out of context and really means that Genta was more focused on the exterior wearable part of the watch as opposed to the horological elements on the inside.Īt the time when Genta was in the heyday of his design career he can clearly be seen rejecting the traditional “generic” exterior look of most watches (especially luxury ones) but introducing a series of novel ways to imagine a watch case and bracelet. Gerald Genta famously quipped that he himself was not a watch lover. In fact, I have a very strong feeling Gerald Genta himself never even intended for there to be anything but a three-hand version of the Royal Oak, which means that something like a Royal Oak Chronograph is more a modification of his original design intent as opposed to building on it. Yes, there are some exotic models with a perpetual calendar complication or a minute repeater – but this isn’t what the Royal Oak is all about. Most Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watches out in the market aren’t sold as a function of their movement or complexity. Was that just rich-boy puffery designed to further alienate the masses who could not afford such items? Not exactly. When the Royal Oak was first introduced, Audemars Piguet boldly and proudly announced in its own marketing materials that the Royal Oak was a steel sports watch priced just like a gold one. Audemars Piguet has been a loyal and impressive caretaker of the design, which represents the vast majority of sales at the brand. While Genta’s relationship with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak design ended decades ago, you can’t really understand the watch’s concept without knowing what he was intending to do with it. ![]() He is most well-known for a series of luxury sport watches he designed for brands such as Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, IWC, and Bulgari. You can’t be a watch expert (let alone watch lover) without studying the work of the late watch designer Gerald Genta. Gerald Genta & The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Other sizes and styles certainly exist, but this is the most modern (and largest) iteration of the famed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph ever. For this review I take a look at the 41mm wide version of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph. And “men’s jewelry” is a term that I feel adequately describes the appeal of this timepiece. These two things taken together have helped this more than 45 year old design turn into both an icon and one of the most in-demand pieces of men’s jewelry you can find and as such we included it among our “ top 10 living legend watches to own” article. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is one of the most recognizable luxury watches on the planet – and it also happens to be quite good looking. ![]()
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