Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon retraces how the Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak created a stir upon its release in 1972, with its armor of hand-finished stainless-steel encasing the thinnest self-winding mechanical movement of its era and has shone around the world in the decades that have followed. For the first time, steel was ennobled to the same status as gold. Inspired by the profound cultural, artistic, and industrial changes of the 1960s and early 1970s, this forward-looking timepiece anticipated a more active yet casual lifestyle, while heralding the beginning of a new high-end watchmaking era combining sportiness and refinement.
Although an outlier at birth, the Royal Oak soon found an audience among the free-spirited youth, who recognized the watch’s audacious blend of technological advances and ancestral craftsmanship. The Royal Oak has been a canvas of innovation ever since, conversing with art, music, architecture, and sports. Today, a cultural artifact beyond watchmaking, the Royal Oak is an object of permanence in a world of obsolescence, embodying the creative freedom and the youthful spirit of those who have contributed to writing its story.
The book presents the Royal Oak’s history from a broader cultural perspective, while shedding light on new archival materials uncovered by Audemars Piguet’s Heritage department alongside exclusive testimonies of long-standing friends of the brand. The lively narrative text is illustrated with imagery from six decades of groundbreaking art, architecture, fashion, music, and cultural history, paralleling the evolution of this trailblazing timepiece beloved by innovative tastemakers and influential celebrities around the globe.
Furthering the Royal Oak’s unique cultural journey, Bill Prince also gives voice to what he calls “Generation Royal Oak,” a group of watch connoisseurs who came of age following the timepiece’s launch and whose achievements reflect the global, cultural movement that inspired it. This cohort notably includes Kevin Hart, Bjarke Ingels, Elle Macpherson, Mark Ronson, Serena Williams, and Ning Zetao, to name but a few.
Limited edition, gift wrapping:
- 292 pages
- 400 illustrations
- English language
- Released in September 2022
- W 32 x L 38.3 x D 4.7 cm
- Hardcover in a luxury slipcase
- ISBN: 9781649800596
- 4.7 kg
About Author:
Bill Prince is an award-winning journalist and an expert on luxury, culture, men’s style and watchmaking. The former Deputy Editor of British GQ, Bill is currently Acting Editor in Chief of Wallpaper*. Alongside his present role, Bill writes as an expert on men’s style and luxury for Daily Telegraph and is a contributor to Vanity Fair On Time. Since 2020, Bill has been an Academy member of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve, for which he served as a Juror in 2021.
Reviews and mentions of the book in the press:
Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon, Cool Hunting Online (USA), December 2022
Quoi de neuf dans l’actualite? Beaux Livres?; By: Hugo Moret, L’Opinion Online (France), November 2022
Avis aux passionne?s d'horlogerie! Ce beau livre retrace l'histoire d'une montre iconique; By: Jessica Scemama, Vogue Online (France), November 2022
Audemars Piguet Toasts 50 Years of Royal Oak with New Watches, Book; By: Laurie Kahle, New York Post Online (USA), October 2022
The Iconic Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Now Has Its Very Own Photo Book; By: Beau Hayoe, Maxim Online (US), September 2022
Audemars Piguet and ASSOULINE Publishing a groundbreaking book on the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Oak; By: Ahmed Fadel, DIVA Online (UAE), September 2022
Assouline et Audemars Piguet ce?le?brent une ico?ne du style modern; By: L’Officiel Mexico, L’Officiel Online (France), September 2022
If You Can’t Afford An AP Royal Oak, Get The Coffee Table Book Instead; By: Nick Kenyon, Boss Hunting Online (Australia), September 2022
