Launched in 1972, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was the world’s first stainless steel luxury sports watch with a fully integrated bracelet. Designed overnight in response to an urgent request for an ‘unprecedented steel watch’, it was at the same time the most expensive stainless steel watch ever made. The brand sought famed designer Gerald Genta, who developed a brilliantly engineered, monobloc case, with a distinctively maritime feel, featuring an octagonal bezel secured by eight hexagonal, white gold screws, and a dial with tapisserie motif. While today the Royal Oak is a legend, at the beginning it was more than a bet, it was a true visionary revolution, the first appearance of what is today's most successful kind of wristwatch: the luxury sport watch in steel.
The Royal Oak model reference 5402ST has been produced in four different batches: A, B, C and D with small design details that made each slightly different.
The reference 5402 remained in the Audemars Piguet Catalogues for 25 years and was produced in 6,050 examples over the different series.
The present reference 5402 "A Series" Royal Oak truly deserves the Royal in its name as it is a piece commissioned by The Sultan of Oman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said.
The dial of the present reference 5402 is different to the regular production models as it is black (and not blue/grey) lacking the tapisserie motif but with elegant diamond markers and proudly exhibiting the "Khanjar" daggers - the emblem of Oman - on the lower part of the dial. Research shows that a batch of 6 dials without tapisserie, with diamond-set indexes and an emblem at 6 o'clock has been ordered by Audemars Piguet in spring 1973.
The Sultan of Oman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said, was a well-known collector and horological enthusiast, and specially commissioned watches from the finest manufactures to be given as gifts to loyal servants and foreign dignitaries. His Majesty ascended to the throne on July 23, 1970, which makes the present watch likely to be amongst the first gifts he offered during his reign.
His Majesty was born in 1940. Following his ascent to the throne aged 30, the monarch "modernized" the state by launching a series of programs to advance the healthcare, education, and infrastructure systems in Oman.
In absolutely astounding condition, the present "A Series" is part of a handful of examples known bearing the Khanjar.
