Launched in 1972 by Audemars Piguet, the Royal Oak was the first luxury sports watch. Before the advent of this model, wristwatches were divided in roughly two categories: evening pieces and professional timepieces. The latter were usually made in steel and presented professional-oriented complications such as the chronograph or the dual time complication. The Royal Oak was instead a stainless steel sports watch priced higher than its gold peers and marketed as a luxury item: simply put, a revolution for the market. Contrary to the market’s first impressions of the watch, the Royal Oak became a best-seller. It was soon followed by other similarly inspired pieces such as the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

The present example is a modern representative of this landmark line of wristwatches. Reference 15202 was launched in 2000, and then again re-issued in 2012 in celebration of the model’s 40th anniversary and is powered by what was at the time the thinnest automatic movement, only 2.45mm thick. Gold examples of reference 15202 from the first production run - such as the present piece, dating to the very year the model was launched - were made in very few number and are today a highly scarce and collectible resource.