Audemars Piguet, a Swiss manufacturer of complicated mechanical watches was founded in 1875 by watch makers and friends Jules-Louis Audemars & Edward-Auguste Piguet.
Audemars Piquet is best known for its iconic models the Royal Oak and the Royal Oak Offshore.
Audemars Piguet has produced many world’s first – amongst them, the first steel high-end sports watch known as the Royal Oak released in 1972 and the first over-sized wristwatch, the Royal Oak Offshore launched in 1993
ROYAL OAK
Unveiled in 1972, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was designed by Gerald Genta. Inspired by the 1862 battleship, HMS Royal Oak, Genta designed the octagonal portholes as the basis of his case design. Up to this point, luxury timepieces were usually small and made of gold, but Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak shocked the luxury watch world with its unique , innovative and striking watch made in steel.
Critics were initially sceptical about the Royal Oak’s larger size, but came to love it with time.
Since 1972, the Royal Oak has grown into AP’s most famous watch and by many standards the company’s signature design.
ROYAL OAK OFFSHORE
The Royal Oak Offshore collection, unveiled in 1993, uses the superbly crafted Royal Oak as its base and takes it to the next level by employing a fearless and boundless spirit of innovation. These timepieces are water-resistant up to 100 metres, self-winding with a chronograph movement and composed of a sapphire crystal case for durability.
The combination of technical achievement and aesthetic design of the Royal Oak Offshore Collection makes them sport watches with an extra element of elegance. Despite their exclusivity, the Royal Oak Offshore timepieces are featured in stainless steel, white, yellow or rose gold, carbon and titanium.
The straps too are offered in a wide variety, ranging from leather to rubber and to metals like titanium and gold.
ROYAK OAK OFFSHORE DIVER
The Royal Oak Offshore Diver, launched in 2016 is a true certified diver’s instrument. Replacing the customary bezel, the diving scale is displayed on a rotating inner bezel, close to the dial. This design allows better reading of dive time, while the bezel rotates via a crown place at 10 o’clock.
A unidirectional ratcheted mechanism prevents any unintentional change to the dive time and its positioning in the case safeguards it from external shocks. All Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver watches are water resistant to 300 metres.