Audemars Piguet is a name in Haute Horlogerie that has always epitomised luxury timekeeping in a hedonistic setting. The brand came up with the Royal Oak collection at the 1972 Basel world Expo as a Hail Mary attempt to save itself from the Quartz crisis. The watch was the first all-steel luxury sports timepiece that ever set foot in the Swiss watch industry. The watch perfectly sums up the intrepid nature of the watchmaker as steel cases were nothing short of a taboo at the time. The precision and execution of the watch were jaw-dropping and simply priceless.

After more than 40 years of the release of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, the collection continues to be the brand’s flagship. While the original 39mm Royal Oak featured the ultra-thin calibre 2120, the present day Royal Oak exhibits case sizes ranging from 33mm to 44mm and uses the calibre 3120 series of automatic movements. The watch is a spectacle to witness with its iconic octagonal case, visible screws, metal bracelet, and of course, its suave yet bold presence. The watch has given way to many iterations during the course of its existence but the Royal Oak design has always stayed true to the original blueprints of the legendary Gerald Genta, the inventor of the watch.

Some popular watches in the Royal Oak collection are:

• AP Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
• AP Royal Oak Chronograph
• AP Royal Oak Jumbo
• AP Royal Oak 41
• AP Royal Oak 37
• AP Royal Oak 33