Audemars Piguet

The brand Audemars Piguet (AP) belongs to the Big Three of Swiss manufacturers: Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet teamed up. Established back in 1875, the company is still owned by the family up until today. One of the most famous watches from Audemars Piguet is the Royal Oak. Gérald Genta is an iconic designer in the watch industry who designed the Royal Oak in 1972.

With AP bringing the Royal Oak to the market, they immediately priced their stainless-steel watch for as much as a solid gold watch. And this watch established a new genre in the watch industry. Other top models from the Swiss brand area the Royal Oak Offshore or the Royal Oak Concept.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore was released back in 1998 with a larger case compared to the regular Royal Oak. In 2021, Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak Black Panther in collaboration with Marvel Studios.

Jules-Louis Audemars founded the company in Switzerland in 1875 and he received some help from his friend Edward-Auguste Piguet. In 1881, the company was called Audemars Piguet & Cie. They started making complicated pocket watches with perpetual calendars, minute repeaters and chronograph functions. Their ‘Grande Complication’ pocket watch won a medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, just a few years after building the company.

Back in 1972, AP released the Royal Oak being a revolutionary model in that era. In that time, most of the brands made solid gold watches as being a luxury piece, while Audemars Piguet did the same thing with stainless-steel. The famous Gérald Genta design was groundbreaking with its octagonal bezel and the set of eight hexagonal screws that attach the bezel to the case. The man responsible for the design, Gérald Genta, is also the man behind the IWC Ingenieur and the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

Maybe it’s hard to understand nowadays, but the Royal Oak wasn’t that successful when it was released. There were some models which were coveted, like the Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin reference 15202ST, measuring 39mm. If you like your watch to be a bit bigger, you might opt for the Royal Oak Automatic 15400ST or 15500ST which measure 41mm. Audemars Piguet now offers the Royal Oak in gold, platinum, titanium or ceramic, so there should be plenty to choose from.

With the Royal Oak being one of the most popular watches from the Swiss watch maker, there are some other watches available on Wristler as well. Because it is really hard to get your hands on a new Audemars Piguet watch at your local authorized dealer, prices on the free market are continuously rising. If you’re in the market for an Audemars Piguet watch, be ready to spend some money. Starting at around €13.000 for a Millenary Quincy Jones with a date function and made of stainless-steel, this is the cheapest Audemars Piguet watch out there. 

If you want to wear the all-time classic Royal Oak, prepare to take at least €40.000 to the table for the 15400ST. With Audemars Piguet making complicated watches, there is a Royal Oak Grande Complication. This watch features a perpetual calendar, chronograph, minute repeater and a moon phase.

 It’s made of titanium and will cost you around €750.000 on the free market. If you think that’s not enough, you should try the Jules Audemars Grande Complication 25996TI. This titanium wristwatch has a moon phase, minute repeater, chronograph and perpetual calendar and is priced around €1.000.000. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on one.

With these crazy prices, you might think that a watch from Audemars Piguet isn’t the right watch to invest in. But we’ve seen the data from the past years and prices keep on rising. Back in 2019, you could easily get your hands on a Royal Oak for around €20.000. Nowadays, these watches are priced close to €100.000. That really makes it a solid investment.