Audemars Piguet - The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI Geneva Saturday, November 5, 2022 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Audemars Piguet
    Year: 1998
    Reference No: 25854ST
    Movement No: 460'749
    Case No: E8087, 009
    Model Name: Royal Oak Offshore Quantième Perpetuel Automatic
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 2226/2839, 54 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Royal Oak bracelet, max length 205mm
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Audemars Piguet double deployant clasp stamped "X4"
    Dimensions: 42mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and clasp signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Audemars Piguet Certificat d'Origine et de Garantie stamped by Italian retailer "Gioielleria Orologeria De Dominicis" and dated October 1998.

  • Catalogue Essay

    In response the quartz crisis of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak wristwatch in 1972 as the world’s first stainless steel luxury sports watch with fully integrated bracelet. Designed by famed horologer Gerald Genta, it was a model that revolutionized luxury watches with a monobloc case featuring an octagonal bezel secured by eight hexagonal white gold screws.

    In 1993, however, the Royal Oak design was 21 years old and while it is an unarguably timeless architecture - as demonstrated by the ever growing interest for the model - Audemars Piguet felt the need to update it with a more rugged, sporty and masculine version. Stephen Urquhart, then managing director of AP, tasked designer Emmanuel Gueit with the challenge. Gueit retained the Royal Oak classic design, but the original’s 39mm case diameter was enlarged to a 42mm diameter case: the Offshore was born. Its remarkable presence on the wrist took the market by surprise, once more revolutionising it, just as it had happened in 1972. The size and aggressive looks of the watch earned it the nickname “The Beast” and at the moment of launch it raised few eyebrows - most notably, those of Mr. Genta himself - just like its parent had in ’72: an astounding example of history repeating. The new Offshore featured a chronograph and calendar mechanism, along with a prominent rubber gasket sandwiched between the bezel and case, and therban – a type of rubber - coated chronograph pushers and screw down crown. These elements enhanced the nautical theme of the Royal Oak model and over the ensuing years it has often been associated with sailing events. It is now today one of the pillars of AP offer.

    The present watch is the more complicated and exclusive version of “The Beast”, featuring a prestigious perpetual calendar and moonphases indication in addition to the chronograph function. It is remarkable the amount of information offered by the watch: the chronograph is not a simple 30-minutes chrono, but a full 12-hours one, with the hour counter found at 6 o’clock.

    Some design details betray the effort put into the dial/movement architecture by AP to manage an incredible detailed display without sacrificing symmetry and balance. All indications are relegated to the subsidiary counters, to the point that the 9 o’clock one presents 3 hands: month, chronographic minutes, and the leap year cycle indicated by a tiny revolving disc at the center.

    Offered with its original Certificate and in excellent condition, this stainless steel example is a must have, equally enjoyable by both the novice watch enthusiast and the most jaded collector.

  • Artist Biography

    Audemars Piguet

    Swiss • 1881

    A specialist in the manufacture of complications since it was established in 1881, Audemars Piguet never ceases to impress with a rich history of creating bold, even audacious, timepieces underpinned by traditional watchmaking at its finest. This Le Brassus-based Swiss manufacturer is one of only two major manufacturers still owned by the founding family. Since its earliest days, AP is considered a leader in the field of minute repeaters and grande complication pocket and wristwatches. The brand is devoted to preserving the history of watchmaking in the Vallée de Joux, showcased at their superb museum in Le Brassus.

    Today, the brand is best known for its Royal Oak models, a revolutionary luxury sports watch launched in 1972. Other key models include early minute repeating wristwatches, vintage chronograph wristwatches, such as the oversized reference 5020, perpetual calendar watches and the Royal Oak Offshore, first introduced in 1993.

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Ref. 25854ST
A massive, impressive and highly complicated stainless steel perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moonphases, bracelet and certificate

1998
42mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and clasp signed

Estimate
CHF50,000 - 100,000 
€51,500-103,000
$50,100-100,000

Sold for CHF69,300

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi
Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East
+41 22 317 81 81
AGhotbi@phillips.com
 

Tiffany To
Head of Sale, Geneva
+41 22 317 96 63
TiffanyTo@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI

Geneva Auction 5 - 6 November 2022