Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo 18K

About the Watch

In 1971 Audemars Piguet realized that, without a disruptive change, a financial collapse was inevitable. Elaborating some feedback that they received from the Italian market about possible interest for a steel luxury watch, the management of the manufacture decided it was time to introduce something totally new, a sporty yet elegant timepiece as never seen before. The designer of choice for this task was a designer born in Geneva in 1931 from an Italian father and a Swiss mother: Gerald Genta. Not a new designer, rather one of the most famous watch designer at that time, having created successful watches for Universal Genève (Polerouter Microtors, White Shadow, Golden Shadow), Omega (Constellation) and Patek Philippe (Golden Ellipse).

Building on the success of the “Jumbo” steel Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet unveiled the first-ever 18k yellow gold version under reference 5402BA. Released in 1977, the yellow gold version was produced in a limited run of 736 units, sold up until 1990. This model comes with its full original set and is in excellent condition.

About the Brand

The Manufacture was established in 1875 in Le Brassus, a village at the heart of La Vallée-de-Joux in the Swiss Jura, by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet, two enterprising young men who combined their talent to develop and produce watches featuring rare complications. Already in these early days, an Audemars-Piguet watch was prized by admirers of fine mechanical timepieces. Through determination, imagination and discipline, they inscribed their name on the wider history of watchmaking. The company they established has never left the hands of the founding families.