Feature: Why The Royal Oak Offshore Made Its Creator Furious
This year sees half a century since Audemars Piguet released its Royal Oak model, an industry game-changer that introduced the idea of a luxury steel sports watch. And you wouldn’t bet against it bringing out something very special to mark the occasion.
The AP Royal Oak celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2002 with the launch of its ultra-high-end Concept line, muscular and futuristic versions of the Royal Oak that twinned titanium with ceramic to dramatic effect.
A decade earlier it marked the 20th anniversary by bringing out the Offshore, a beefed-up version of the Royal Oak.
What it unveils in 2022 is anyone’s guess, but, sadly, what will be missing from the 50th anniversary celebrations is the father of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak himself: legendary watch designer, Gerald Genta, who passed away in 2011.
Not only would it have been an incredibly poignant moment for Genta and his most famous horological baby, he might also have voiced a brutally honest opinion about any new Royal Oak offspring.
Because he did precisely that back in 1993 when he stormed into the Audemars Piguet pavilion at that year’s Baselworld and berated the young designer who, as he saw it, had defiled his creation…
Big And Crazy
The target of his fury was Emmanuelle Gueit, who had been at Audemars Piguet for several years and had been working on revamping Genta’s Royal Oak for some time, having been handed the task of making it appeal to a younger audience. Preliminary sketches of the watch were met with scepticism and mockery by colleagues with even his own CEO calling him “crazy”.
The chunkier Royal Oak Offshore reference 26400IO.OO.A004CA.02
At 42mm it was bigger than anything on the market, with Panerai yet to make their watches commercially available.
Gueit gave the Royal Oak watch a more aggressive look, with an added crown guard and integrated strap instead of a bracelet, as well as exposed rubber gaskets and rubber-covered chronograph pushers. It also had a new name: the Royal Oak Offshore.
Gerald Genta was no longer working at Audemars Piguet, but if he was he would have almost certainly tried to obstruct the project.
The Blow-up At Basel
Cautious, and acknowledging that even the original Royal Oak wasn’t an instant success, Audemars Piguet initially decided to make the model in limited numbers to test the water. It was unveiled at Baselworld in 1993, which was when Gerald Genta first caught sight of it. And he was not amused by the oversized monster that his masterpiece had become.
A 1972 version of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak. Image courtesy of Bonhams
Storming into the AP pavilion he is said to have shouted, “You killed my baby!”
The Offshore’s nickname at the company was said to have been ‘The Beast’, but Genta apparently had his own scathing name for it: ‘The Whale’, an oversized and unwieldy creation that he thought lacked the finesse of his original.
Hip Hop Stardom
Thankfully for Gueit and Audemars Piguet, they stuck with it and the Offshore eventually became one of the must-have watches of the era, worn by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, F1 legend Michael Schumacher and hip-hop artists like Jay-Z and Usher.
There’s no doubt that it started the trend for oversized watches and its design has influenced a range of brands from Hublot to Linde Werdelin.
The man behind the original Royal Oak, Gerald Genta
Genta might not have admitted it, but, in its own way, it became every bit as influential as the original Royal Oak.
And what, you ask, happened to Emmanuel Gueit, who was given such a public dressing down by Genta?
Well, to his credit, he wasn’t cowed into submission by the outburst and has since gone on to be one of the most successful watch designers of the past 30 years, working with Rolex on their Cellini range, as well as Zenith, Ikepod, Piaget and many more.
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