Audemars Piguet

After the introduction of the original Royal Oak, the reference 5402 in 1972, Audemars Piguet started to experiment with both the size of the Royal Oak and the materials used to make it. In 1992, Audemars Piguet released a slightly scaled-down Royal Oak Ref 14790 with a diameter of 36mm. Unlike some rescaling of the iconic designs, the original Royal Oak’s aesthetic was faithfully preserved in its new case size and remained in production until the turn of the millennium. This new case size allowed Audemars Piguet to experiment with some new dial and case designs, including the Yves Klein blue and Ferrari red dial colors, as well as introducing a number of case materials previously not used. One of those was Tantalum, an expensive material ordinarily used in only the aeronautical and medical industries characterized by its hardness, high resistance to corrosion and wear but also by its extreme difficulty to machines and tools.

The current watch, No 34, combines both Tantalum with stainless steel. The majority of the watch, (mid-case and main bracelet links) is constructed from Tantalum, whilst the remainder is made from stainless steel. This combination of metals gives the watch a highly attractive look that is complemented by its dark brushed grey dial. Intriguingly, the watches folding clasp displays a stamp not often seen on later Royal Oak clasp, a small ‘GF’ logo indicating that the maker is none other than the most fabled of Swiss bracelet makers, Gay Freres.

The watch is found in excellent condition and with its full suite of accessories including Audemars Piguet presentation box with outer packaging, Certificate of Origin and Guarantee (undated), booklet, three additional bracelet links and hang tag.