Royal Oak, From Iconoclast to Icon, Audemars Piguet (book)

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Royal Oak, From Iconoclast to Icon, Audemars Piguet (book) by Bill Prince. Publisher Assouline. 292 pages, 400 illustrations. 2022. Book is new, written in English. Hardcover in a luxury slipcase. 10.4 lbs. Dimensions: W 12.12 x L 15 x D 1.9 in.

Bill Prince is an award-winning journalist and expert on luxury, culture, men’s style and watches. Since 2020, Bill has been a member of the Académie du Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, for which he was a member of the jury in 2021.

Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon traces how Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak created a sensation upon its launch in 1972, with its hand-finished stainless steel armour enclosing the thinnest self-winding mechanical movement of its time, and shone around the world in the decades that followed. For the first time, steel was ennobled in the same way as gold. Inspired by the profound cultural, artistic and industrial shifts of the 1960s and early 1970s, this forward-looking watch anticipated a more active yet relaxed lifestyle, while heralding the beginning of a new era in high-end watchmaking that combined sportiness and refinement.

Although an exception at its birth, the Royal Oak quickly found its audience among free-spirited young people, who recognized in this watch a bold blend of technological advances and ancestral know-how. Since then, the Royal Oak has been a canvas for innovation, in dialogue with art, music, architecture and sport. Today, the Royal Oak is a cultural object beyond watchmaking, an object of permanence in a world of obsolescence, embodying the creative freedom and youthful spirit of those who helped write its history.

The book presents the history of the Royal Oak in a broader cultural perspective, while highlighting new archival documents discovered by Audemars Piguet’s Heritage department as well as exclusive testimonies from long-time friends of the brand. The lively narrative text is illustrated with images drawn from six decades of groundbreaking art, architecture, fashion, music and cultural history, paralleling the evolution of this pioneering timepiece beloved by innovative fashion designers and influential celebrities around the world.

Feel free to check out the additional photos at the top left, thank you!

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