Audemars Piguet and the Royal Oak: History, Collections and How to Buy

25 October 2023, updated 8 October 2026

Audemars Piguet is a Swiss watch manufacture founded in 1875 in Le Brassus by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, and it remains independent and family owned. Its Royal Oak, designed by Gérald Genta and launched on 15 April 1972 at the Basel fair, is a steel watch with an octagonal bezel and an integrated bracelet, and three of the six watch collections on AP's website carry its name today. A new Royal Oak is bought from an Audemars Piguet boutique or AP House or from an authorised retailer, while older and sold-out references change hands on the secondary market. Whichever the route, only the Manufacture in Le Brassus can confirm that a watch is genuine.

This article was first published in October 2023 and rewritten in October 2026. The dates, references and terms below come from Audemars Piguet, its heritage site AP Chronicles, Watches and Wonders and Swatch, with links to the sources.

Who founded Audemars Piguet, and who owns it today?

Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 in Le Brassus, a village in the Vallée de Joux, by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet. According to the company's account of its origins, it remains independent and family owned, and it describes itself as the oldest watchmaking manufacturer still in the hands of its founding families. Over time it added manufacturing sites in Le Brassus, Le Locle and Meyrin while keeping annual production and distribution limited, and in 2025 it marked its 150th anniversary. Its chief executive is Ilaria Resta.

How did the Royal Oak come about?

The Royal Oak goes back to 1970, when three of Audemars Piguet's distributors asked for a steel watch. According to AP Chronicles, the company's heritage site, Gérald Genta drew the first sketch overnight, inspired by a diver's helmet. The watch was officially launched on 15 April 1972 at the Basel fair, 490 pieces were sold that same year, and the name came from one of the distributors, Carlo de Marchi.

The first reference, the 5402, measured 39 mm, ran on Calibre 2121 and was water resistant to 100 m. From 1977 it was also made in gold, and 6,050 pieces were sold between 1972 and 2002. Two further lines grew out of the design: the Royal Oak Offshore, designed by Emmanuel Gueit and launched in 1993 with a 42 mm case, and the Royal Oak Concept, introduced in 2002 for the Royal Oak's 30th anniversary.

Which Audemars Piguet collections are current in 2026?

In 2026 the watch navigation of Audemars Piguet's website lists six collections: Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, Royal Oak Concept, Neo Frame and Établisseurs. The Millenary and the Jules Audemars no longer appear in it. The table shows the four with a year of introduction; Neo Frame and Établisseurs are described below it.

In the Royal Oak, the Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar 26685XT debuts Calibre 7139, which AP describes as its new openworked perpetual calendar movement; the titanium case with Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) measures 41 mm across and 9.5 mm in thickness, and the watch is water resistant to 50 m. In the Neo Frame collection, the Neo Frame Jumping Hour runs on Calibre 7122, the company's first self-winding jumping hour movement, with a 52-hour power reserve. The 150 Heritage is a limited edition pocket watch in platinum with Calibre 1150 and a universal calendar.

Since 2026 Audemars Piguet has also exhibited at Watches and Wonders Geneva. At the 2026 fair it showed the Établisseurs Galets, a one-of-a-kind watch from the Établisseurs collection, in yellow gold with Calibre 3098. The fair itself is described in our article on Watches and Wonders in Geneva.

How do you buy a Royal Oak today?

There are three ways to buy an Audemars Piguet: from the company's own boutiques and AP Houses, from an authorised retailer, or on the secondary market. AP Houses are the company's own retail spaces, developed, in its words, in collaboration with some of its most valued clients; Hong Kong, for example, has two.

Where a new watch is bought decides its warranty. According to the Audemars Piguet FAQ, every new watch carries the International Sales Warranty of two years against manufacturing defects. For watches bought through the authorised network since 1 January 2017 it can be extended by three years, and for watches first bought within AP's own distribution network it is extended to five years automatically. Watches first bought through the official network in 2024, 2025 or 2026 also qualify for AP Coverage, a complimentary two-year service against burglary, robbery and functional damage, up to CHF 500,000 and under conditions set by AP.

For the pieces our clients ask about, the waiting list is not an administrative delay: it is how the maison allocates scarcity, and getting around it is a question of relationships that were built long before the request arrived. The houses such requests are typically placed with include Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Hublot, Richard Mille and CVSTOS, among others. We are not an authorised dealer for any of them; we act for the client.

On the secondary market, the paperwork matters more than the discount. Audemars Piguet issues the warranty card only once, when the watch is first sold, and only its Manufacture in Le Brassus can issue a Certificate of Authenticity, after examining the watch. An Extract from the Archives confirms only that the case and movement numbers appear in AP's records; it does not authenticate the watch. To avoid counterfeits, AP recommends buying within its authorised network, and it gives values only for insurance purposes, referring owners of older or limited pieces to auction houses. Every piece we source second-hand is checked for provenance, service history and authenticity before a number is discussed.

After the purchase, a full service on a watch from AP's core collection takes about five weeks, while watches under warranty are given priority and take about three. The service work carries a two-year guarantee, and AP advises having the water resistance checked at least once a year.

Where can you buy the Audemars Piguet x Swatch Royal Pop?

The Royal Pop, a collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Swatch, is sold only in selected Swatch stores. According to Swatch, it went on sale on 16 May 2026 and comprises eight pocket watches with a new hand-wound version of the SISTEM51 movement, each in a Lépine or a Savonnette style; purchases are limited to one watch per person, per day and per store. Audemars Piguet does not sell the Royal Pop, and the watches are not covered by the AP warranty, AP Coverage or AP services.

In its half-year report of July 2026, the Swatch Group writes that demand for the Royal Pop exceeded supply from the first day and that the campaign generated more than 25 billion views on social media. In Swiss stores the watches cost at most CHF 375, according to a May 2026 release by Swiss Marketplace Group.

For the wider Swiss watch market, The Swiss Watch Market Has Turned looks at where exports recovered in 2026, and The Road to your Luxury Watch Collection at how a collection is built. Sourcing individual pieces and VIP access to watch fairs such as Watches and Wonders are part of our luxury concierge service.