Audemars Piguet

Audemars

Royal Oak Jumbo

5402ST A-Series

1974

Perfect 39mm. diameter steel case with the original winding crown and signed Royal Oak No. A 1173

Perfect tapisserie blue dial with the original hands, original hour markers all with the original lume

Original fully signed and serviced Cal 2121 automatic movement. Serial number 138***

Original steel AP bracelet with fully signed clasp

Sold with the original octagonal travel box with outer carton and an AP service box, and the Audemars Piguet Extract from the Archives stating that the watch was registered on 24th April 1974. Also sold with an early valuation certificate dated 1975 for the original owner, L.G. Weston of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, dated 18th August 1975 valuing the watch for £845 Service and condition The present Royal Oak is beautifully preserved and accompanied by an extract from the archives confirming the original sale date as 12th April 1974. It has recently undergone a complete service. Service and condition The present Royal Oak is beautifully preserved and accompanied by an extract from the archives confirming the original sale date as 12th April 1974. It has recently undergone a complete service. The AP 5402ST The ref. 5402ST was launched in 1972 and produced in several different batches across A, B, C and D case numbers with small design details that made each subtly different. They house the extra slim caliber 2121 based on the Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 920, that would later be used for Patek Philippe's Nautilus wristwatch and Vacheron Constantin's 222. This steel, Royal Oak A-series watch is the perfect balance between utilitarian function and elegant design. The case and bracelet are excellently finished, with angular, bevelled and polished edges. The polished screws, bezel and case edges fantastically-contrast with the brushed surface of the case and bracelet. At 39mm in diameter, and only 7mm thick, this A-series Royal Oak case is a beautiful twist of perspectives and size. The outer-case back correctly displays the unique serial number (A1173), with matching last 3-digits on the inner case-back. The inner case-back of this A-series example correctly displays the serial number above the ‘Audemars Piguet' signature, (it appears beneath the signature in later A-series examples.) On the eve of Basel's 1971 fair, Gerald Genta was tasked with the creation of an “unprecedented steel watch" – his night's work, today considered one of the masterpieces of his career. Audemars Piguet managing director of the time, Georges Golay, contacted Mr. Genta with a view to designing a totally new, steel, waterproof sports watch – understanding that the waterproof technology would require innovative strategy. Gerald Genta's inspiration for the iconic Royal Oak architecture was to replicate that of the scaphander diving helmet, on the watch case, complete with eight screws and the joint visible on the cases' exterior. As Mr. Genta recounts “I was given the ‘green light' straight away to begin work on the prototype. I completed the prototype myself within a year. In 1970, I designed the watch. And it took one more year before industrial production, which finally came about in 1972”. Prototypes for the Royal Oak are said to have been initially manufactured from white gold, as the softer material was easier to sculpt and manipulate the varying degree of angular, brushed and polished surfaces.

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