Lately, I began focusing mostly on the value of watch brands rather than on watches per se. The reason for that is that most people “just love” one or another watch without knowing much about the remarkable history behind the brand. And in some instances, that remarkable history hides such phenomenal and curious aspects that can make people love the brand even more.
That’s what happened with my relationship with the “Hublot” brand. Truly speaking, I wasn’t resonating much with Hublot watches. They were kind of not my style. But when I discovered that it was the first Swiss watchmaker to invest in cricket, or that it spent about three years developing the first rubber strap for a watch, I began looking at this brand differently. Here is where you can find out more about the phenomenal Hublot, by the way. On the whole, I’m trying to say that admiration for certain watches can sometimes be nurtured by brand value and achievements.
In this article…
I’m going to talk about the iconic Audemars Piguet. There is little chance that people don’t love AP watches. And the goal of this article is not to “convince” you about the grandeur of this brand, but rather to “refresh” the knowledge you have about it. This world-dominating watchmaker is not only one of my favorite brands but is also the epitome of premium achievements in horology.
Similar to other Swiss watchmakers, Audemars Piguet also boasts of having a spectacular background and heritage. The most distinctive aspect making it different from other brands is its “exquisite sense” of combining innovation and tradition. “Complications”, ”innovations” and “luxury” are the three pillars forming the Audemars Piguet heritage. The foundation of this resounding brand was set by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet. It’s easy to understand how the name of this watchmaking house was born. Now, let’s discover more about it and see once again WHY and HOW this brand became a member of the “Holy Trinity”.
Being an expert for centuries
Audemars Piguet has been in the horology realm since 1875. Therefore, it has already been more than a century in this industry. Just imagine the level of expertise and craftsmanship this brand has gathered throughout its long road. So, when we talk about Audemars Piguet, we actually refer to one of the oldest members in the industry.
The brand was formed by two experts
As aforementioned, there were two founders setting the foundation of this iconic brand. The great thing about that is that both of them, Audemars and Piguet, were watchmakers before emerging their efforts together. This means that they both came with a “baggage” of horological knowledge and their partnership only complemented each other’s skills. So, we can easily say that the complexity of Audemars Piguet’s collection lies in the deep knowledge of each of its founders. And just like the M.L. King Jr. quote says, “There is power in unity and there is power in numbers”. This means that with the unification of the two founders’ skills, abilities, and knowledge- the brand is where it is today.
Innovation: the primary goal
Audemars Piguet always strived in inventing and bringing something new to the table. In this context, its Royal Oak collection not only is the brand’s most iconic signature but is also the very first luxury sport line made of steel. More than that, it was Audemars Piguet that first presented a luxury sports watch to the whole world. And thanks to this collection, watch enthusiasts all over the world found out that a “luxury watch” is not necessarily a formal or dress one. It can also be a sports one, whenever the watchmaker knows how to make things right. And Audemars Piguet knows it like no other.
Royal Oak’s first concept referred to a white gold watch
The entire watch community knows the Royal Oak as a stainless steel lineup today. Matter-of-factly, the very first concept was designed as a white gold timepiece. Might sound usual because gold watches were pretty popular at those times. But what surprised me was actually the reason behind the “white gold” concept. The founders opted for white gold for… budget reasons. At those times, white gold was a pretty affordable material in comparison to other types of gold, and even stainless steel. The 904l stainless steel was hard to obtain and the brand was never sure that the audience would embrace the innovative idea. But, where there is a risk, there are achievements and the brand accepts the challenge.
Still, there is one issue: the Royal Oak had a cosmic price tag at the time of its release. Just to compare, watch enthusiasts could get about 10 Submariners instead of only one Royal Oak. Time passed and things became calibrated. Currently, the steel version of Audemars Piguet turns out to be the most appreciable watch collection of all time. And, there is still a “gold” element in the Royal Oak design. The screws of the watches are in white gold. Few people know about that, and that’s an exquisite touch that makes the whole collection even more exclusive.
Royal Oak’s harsh times
The brand designed a phenomenal watch that would soon become one of the most iconic watches in all watch history: the Royal Oak. Still, the brand sold barely 1,000 pieces during the first year. Several factors influenced the hard advancement in the popularity of the Royal Oak watch. First of them was the public’s reticence towards a stainless steel watch. People were usually familiar with gold when it came to luxury watches. And the stainless steel was a complete “outlander”.
Secondly, the crazy price tag for the watch made people think twice before buying it, especially considering that the times weren’t the safest from an economical point of view. As a result, Audemars Piguet only sold about 1k pieces during the first year after release. And that was a total collapse for the brand. However, the collection gradually gained popularity due to its distinctive octagonal shape (and not only) becoming what it is today: the top level of horology.
Things changed to 360 degrees…
The Royal Oak line had a difficult rise when it was first introduced. But, mainly the futuristic design and unconventional material were the aspects that saved the brand from a potential financial collapse during the 70s. Well, there was one more factor actually: the quartz movement. During the 70s, many watchmaking brands underwent bankruptcy. But, the AP company had these aces on the hole making it slip through the potential threat safely.
Adaptation to the customers’ needs
It’s critical for a brand to adapt the goods it makes to the public’s needs. In addition, time passes, and trends evolve. Refusing to adapt the goods to the market’s tendencies is directly proportional to brand value loss. But, that’s not the case for Audemars Piguet, as it always knew how to adjust its timepieces to meet customers’ demands. In such a context, the brand asked Emmanuel Gueit to adapt the 20 years old Royal Oak to the modern tastes of the audience. That’s exactly how the Royal Oak Offshore appeared as a modernized iteration of the most iconic AP watch collection.
The 1993 Royal Oak Offshore version was so huge… for a certain reason
I actually refer to the “Jumbo” AP watch, which is also known as “the beast”. For those times, such a large timepiece was a complete “out of the box” concept. Most watches had slender silhouettes and tended to be as small as possible. So, the release of the “Jumbo” was a completely crazy event. You must have imagined an oversized watch of more than 45mm in diameter, right? Well, it actually had 42mm. Nowadays, the 42 mm case seems to be an absolute normality, but back then, it was a complete absurdity.
The idea of creating a more expressive iteration of the Royal Oak belonged to Emmanuel Gueit, the one that designed the very first concept of the Royal Oak. And the reason for that is that he didn’t like that women tended to wear men’s watches. As a result of his “frustration”, he designed a bold, large and thick timepiece so that only men could wear it. Currently, the Royal Oak comes with a variety of ladies’ versions. At the same time, the Offshore remained as masculine as possible up till nowadays and few ladies dare to wear it.
“Safari” watch?!
Yes, the name “Safari” was actually a potential name for the Royal Oak collection. The designer of the lineup, Gerald Genta was the one who put forward this name for the collection. The founders didn’t find the name resonating with the whole brand and insisted on the Royal Oak name. Still, the “Safari” name was reserved for one of the Royal Oak models. Personally, I think that no other name could be better than the Royal Oak. Indeed, it sounds powerful, representative, and unique. What do you think about that?!
And how did the “Royal Oak” name come out?
We now know that Royal Oak was one step far from being named “Safari”. And thank God it didn’t happen. And now the question: Where did the Royal Oak name derive from? In fact, there are three hypothetical versions of it. The first one is closely related to the unconventional octagonal watches shape. It is believed to be inspired by the 8 famous British naval ships known as Royal Oak.
The other version refers to a legendary tree that is thought to have protected King Charles II of England from the Roundheads’ attack during the Worcester battle in 1651.
And the third version is actually a mix of the first two versions. The “legend” says that Britain’s Royal Navy has named its 8 vessels “Royal Oak” to commemorate the remarkable tree that protected the England king, Charles. The tree was oak and since it protected the king, it became a Royal Oak.
Either way, there is no official explanation of the Royal Oak name. Therefore, watch enthusiasts are only speculating around the three versions. No matter the source though, the Royal Oak name is the most suitable name the collection could ever have.
The first means the first in everything…
Continuing the idea of innovation, you should know that the very first skeletonized pocket watch is actually Audemars Piguet’s” handiwork”. The company developed it in 1934. Another iconic invention of this brand is the first perpetual calendar wristwatch. It appeared in 1957.
Family heritage
I nurture a special respect and appreciation for family-owned watch brands. And Audemars Piguet is still one of them. Currently, the company is ruled by the family members of the original founders, which means that the passion for watchmaking is in their DNA.
Bottom line
Audemars Piguet is a brand that has always accepted challenges with dignity and ambition. Since its very beginning, it has been always looking for inventing, improving, and amazing the public. Most complicated features, tourbillons, annual calendars, minute repeaters, and intricate movements have never scared the brand. On the contrary, it always embraced them, proving its marvelous craftsmanship every time again and again.
This article has predominantly described the evolution of the Royal Oak collection. And that’s because this line represents the highest level of horology in which tradition meets evolution. Royal Oak watches are the purest form of art in terms of watchmaking. On top of that, Audemars Piguet brand like no other knows the science of horology, proudly making part of the horological holy trinity, along with Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.