Lot n° 284
Estimation :
40000 - 50000
EUR
AUDEMARS PIGUET
Men's stainless steel wristwatch, Royal Oak day, date and moon phase model, reference 25594ST.OO.0789ST.02, tapestry pattern blue dial with day at nine o'clock, date at three o'clock and moon phase at six o'clock, white minute track, gold indexes and bathtub hands. Case back numbered 2132/E-929. Automatic movement 2224/2825. Steel bracelet integrated to the case, steel folding clasp signed. Functional movement at the time of the expertise, without guarantee in the time, state of the parts not guaranteed.
Presented with its archive extract dating from September 11, 1998.
Diameter 36 mm
The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of a watchmaking legend: the Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet. The timepiece presented today is the result of an evolution of this Royal Oak and we propose to take a look back at this important watch in the history of watchmaking.
The context for the birth of the Royal Oak was the quartz crisis of the early 1970s, with the fear of a Japan that presented more precise and innovative quartz watches than ever before. Even though Switzerland and France had taken on the task, they were too slow to make the technology mature.
Audemars Piguet was then looking for multiple outlets to sell more watches and try to overcome this context. A partnership was created between Audemars and the Swiss Society for the Watch Industry (SSIH). On the one hand, Audemars Piguet wanted to increase its reach and distribution, on the other hand the SSIH wanted to incorporate more high-end watches in its portfolio. On February 5, 1969, the agreement was signed.
It all began in 1971, when at the Basel Fair the brand's general manager Georges Golay presented gold prototypes. Orders were placed, and the first production was of 1000 pieces in steel. A development that took another year until 1972 and without its designer Gerald Genta who wanted to launch his own brand.
Production began in 1972, and by 1975 more than 2,000 watches had been sold.
The first Royal Oak with complications appeared in 1983. Their 36 mm diameter confirmed the new standard of dimensions.
Audemars Piguet first presented the Royal Oak Day Date, model 5572, Caliber 2124/281. The basic movement design comes from Jaeger-LeCoultre, while the date plate is made by Dubois Dépraz in the Vallée de Joux. The same is true of the triple calendar Royal Oak, which is housed in a case identical to the first Day Date model. Also offering a moon phase, they will be available in several variants from 1983: 5658, 5595, 25594 and 25627. The 25594, the one we are offering in this sale, will remain in the collection from 1984 to 2005. Approximately 6,530 examples were produced, all variations included.
The movement that equips this timepiece, the caliber 2224/2825, appeared in 1997 as an evolution of the caliber 2124, particularly in terms of its escapement.
A few years after the launch of its Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet began to offer original dial configurations. One example is the salmon dial of the 1992 20th anniversary model on a Royal Oak reference 14802. Among the brand's experiments with color is a type of dial with the color "Klein blue" after the famous pigment. A color that adds rarity and charm to an already unusual piece.
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