The story of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
For End of Days, Arnold Schwarzenegger told Audemars Piguet the watch had to be black with yellow numbers; the 500 pieces sold out at once.
Chapters
- 2026Designed with a champion
Serena Williams, an ambassador since 2014, co-designed a 500-piece white ceramic Royal Oak Chronograph with a pink mother-of-pearl dial. It introduced the new calibre 6401.
- 2022Fifty and a new heart
For the 50th anniversary the ref. 16202 replaced the 15202 as a faithful homage to the original 5402. In December 2022 a steel example sold at Phillips New York for 107,100 dollars against a 40,000 to 80,000 estimate.
- 2008Carbon and a tourbillon
The Royal Oak Concept Carbon debuted at SIHH 2008 at 309,800 dollars, with a carbon case and movement, a tourbillon and a linear 30-minute timer.
- 2000 to 2021The Jumbo carries on
The ref. 15202 kept the 39 mm Jumbo case and calibre 2121 from 2000, first adding a silver dial and later pink gold. For the 40th anniversary in 2012 it was reworked as a homage to the 5402, with Petite Tapisserie dial and AP logo at six.
- 1997A chronograph at twenty-five
The first Royal Oak chronograph, reference 25860, arrived for the line's 25th anniversary, powered by a 5.5 mm-thick calibre 2385.
- 1993 to 1999The Offshore gets bigger
In 1993 the Royal Oak Offshore made the octagon larger and bolder and set a trend for big luxury watches. In 1999 the End of Days edition became the first Offshore limited edition and its first celebrity tie-in.
Worn by
As Jericho Cane in End of Days he wore a Royal Oak Offshore, and he specified the black PVD and yellow numerals of the 500-piece edition that followed.
Audemars Piguet presented a 600-piece pink gold and titanium Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph in his name in Miami Beach. His collection also includes a Royal Oak Skeleton.
At Wimbledon 2019 she played wearing a 37 mm Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph upside down, likely so the pushers would not dig into her wrist. In 2016 she wore a unique left-handed Royal Oak Quartz there.
The basketball star wore a Royal Oak Dual Time to the Met Gala in September 2021.
Moments
2022. A 50th anniversary 16202 Jumbo sold at Phillips New York for 107,100 dollars, more than its high estimate.
2019. Watch-spotters noticed Serena Williams playing Wimbledon with her Royal Oak Offshore worn upside down on her wrist.
2019. The white gold 15202BC was capped at 75 pieces a year and dropped in 2021, leaving an estimated 225 or fewer. One sold at Phillips Hong Kong in November 2025 for HK$889,000.
1999. Schwarzenegger's instruction for his film watch was blunt: it had to be black, with yellow numbers. The resulting End of Days Offshore sold out immediately.
Generations and strap changes
- 202250th anniversary, 16202
The Jumbo became the 16202 in 2022, the Royal Oak's 50th anniversary year.
- 1992Ref. 14802
Reference 14802 joined the line, followed by 15002 in 1996.
- 198336mm case
The case grew by one millimetre to 36mm.
- 1977Smaller 35mm case
The case diameter fell from 39mm to 35mm.
Case shrank from 39mm to 35mm.
Firsts and innovations
Phillips calls the 1972 Royal Oak a revolutionary luxury sports watch. At launch it was the most expensive stainless steel watch ever made.