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Lot Essay
Audemars Piguet’s ‘A series’ Royal Oak reference 5402ST is rightfully one of the most desirable of all vintage wristwatches. To own a Royal Oak ‘A series’ is to possess a tangible part of the history of the modern wristwatch. Examples of the original Royal Oak ‘A Series’ are increasingly hard to obtain as one of the great classic ‘must-have’ watches for the serious collector.
This first series of Royal Oak was numbered from A 0001 to A 2000. Indeed, after having sold out the first 1'000 pieces, the eventual success of this model was such that Audemars Piguet took the decision to increase the production to 2'000 pieces. After the ‘A-series’ sold out, manufacture progressed on to the ‘B’ series, ‘C’ series, and so on.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak is a phenomenon, one of the most recognizable and successful wristwatch models of all time and the first luxury steel sports watch. The concept of the luxury sports watch was completely alien when the Royal Oak was introduced in 1972. Of course Rolex had been producing steel Submariners and GMT-Masters for many years before, but the Rolex steel watches were regarded not as luxury watches as such, but as working instruments or tool watches for professionals. The Royal Oak was designed by none other than Gerald Genta, the man behind many of the most enduring wristwatch designs of the last 50 years. The watch featuring an octagonal screwed bezel that was initially inspired by an antique diver’s helmet is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic wristwatch designs of the 20th century. Not only is it the cornerstone of the brand’s success until today, it was also the forerunner of other iconic watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus which was based upon similar design principles by Gerald Genta.
The water resistant case has a visible gasket and a dial decorated with the ‘petit tapisserie’ pattern that is now part of the Royal Oak’s DNA.
The movement was the superb automatic caliber 2121. The caliber 2121 was based on the Audemars Piguet caliber 2120 with the addition of a date complication. The caliber 2120 was introduced in 1967, the culmination of a project led by Jaeger-LeCoultre, with the technical contribution of Audemars Piguet and the funding of Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, for the development of an ultra-thin automatic movement. This collaboration resulted in the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 920, a highly innovative and reliable movement, that each of the three backers renamed and customized for their own watches, hence the Patek Philippe 28-255 C was used for the Nautilus and the Vacheron Constantin 1120 was fitted to the 222 model.
Audemars Piguet chose the name ‘Royal Oak’ because of its nautical associations, named after the series of eight ships of the British Royal Navy that had in turn been named after the story of King Charles II of England’s escape from the Roundheads - the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War - following the Battle of Worcester in 1651 when the King (then a Prince) hid in an oak tree, the Boscobel Oak, to evade capture.
This first series of Royal Oak was numbered from A 0001 to A 2000. Indeed, after having sold out the first 1'000 pieces, the eventual success of this model was such that Audemars Piguet took the decision to increase the production to 2'000 pieces. After the ‘A-series’ sold out, manufacture progressed on to the ‘B’ series, ‘C’ series, and so on.
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak is a phenomenon, one of the most recognizable and successful wristwatch models of all time and the first luxury steel sports watch. The concept of the luxury sports watch was completely alien when the Royal Oak was introduced in 1972. Of course Rolex had been producing steel Submariners and GMT-Masters for many years before, but the Rolex steel watches were regarded not as luxury watches as such, but as working instruments or tool watches for professionals. The Royal Oak was designed by none other than Gerald Genta, the man behind many of the most enduring wristwatch designs of the last 50 years. The watch featuring an octagonal screwed bezel that was initially inspired by an antique diver’s helmet is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic wristwatch designs of the 20th century. Not only is it the cornerstone of the brand’s success until today, it was also the forerunner of other iconic watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus which was based upon similar design principles by Gerald Genta.
The water resistant case has a visible gasket and a dial decorated with the ‘petit tapisserie’ pattern that is now part of the Royal Oak’s DNA.
The movement was the superb automatic caliber 2121. The caliber 2121 was based on the Audemars Piguet caliber 2120 with the addition of a date complication. The caliber 2120 was introduced in 1967, the culmination of a project led by Jaeger-LeCoultre, with the technical contribution of Audemars Piguet and the funding of Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, for the development of an ultra-thin automatic movement. This collaboration resulted in the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 920, a highly innovative and reliable movement, that each of the three backers renamed and customized for their own watches, hence the Patek Philippe 28-255 C was used for the Nautilus and the Vacheron Constantin 1120 was fitted to the 222 model.
Audemars Piguet chose the name ‘Royal Oak’ because of its nautical associations, named after the series of eight ships of the British Royal Navy that had in turn been named after the story of King Charles II of England’s escape from the Roundheads - the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War - following the Battle of Worcester in 1651 when the King (then a Prince) hid in an oak tree, the Boscobel Oak, to evade capture.