More than fifty years after its debut, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak remains an ever-evolving icon—and, above all, one capable of continually inspiring new creative realms. This time, it has done so through jewelry: the Swiss Manufacture has unveiled Royal Oak Joaillerie, a new collection that takes one of the most distinctive elements of the iconic timepiece—the integrated bracelet—and transforms it into the starting point for High Jewelry creations.
The collection debuts with the Risoud Eclipse, Dream of Joux, and a Frosted Gold series—three distinct interpretations united by a single concept: isolating the geometry of the Royal Oak and bringing it to life independently of the watch. The iconic links thus take center stage in bracelets, necklaces, and earrings, combining precious metals, titanium, and gemstones in a design that preserves the almost architectural precision of the original.
After all, the connection between the Royal Oak and the world of fine jewelry was already part of the initial design. Designed by Gérald Genta and unveiled in 1972, the model redefined the rules of Haute Horlogerie with a choice that was anything but conventional at the time: transforming steel into a precious material. The large case, the octagonal bezel secured by hexagonal screws, the ultra-thin automatic movement, and above all, the integrated bracelet established a new concept of the luxury sports watch.
What made the Royal Oak so precious was not just the material, but the way it was crafted. The alternation between satin-finished surfaces and mirror-polished bevels allowed light to dance across the case and links almost as if on the facets of a gemstone. In 1976, Jacqueline Dimier, Audemars Piguet’s first in-house designer, reinterpreted its proportions for the women’s version, demonstrating just how much that design could scale up or down without losing its identity. In the 1990s, it would be Emmanuel Gueit, together with Dimier herself, who would further expand the Royal Oak’s design vocabulary, eventually bringing it into the world of jewelry.
Royal Oak Joaillerie takes its inspiration from this very story, but this time it completely eliminates the need for a watch. The bracelet no longer accompanies the timepiece but becomes a piece of jewelry in its own right. “A true gateway to the past and the future, the Royal Oak Joaillerie collection embodies the free spirit of Audemars Piguet,” explains Ilaria Resta, CEO of the Manufacture. “Jewelry has always played an important role in the company’s history.” It is a realm the brand intends to continue exploring alongside watchmaking, using it to reinterpret its own aesthetic codes.
From the Vallée de Joux to Diamonds
While the Royal Oak provides the framework, it is the Vallée de Joux—where Audemars Piguet has been based since 1875—that lends the collection its colors and inspiration. Frozen lakes, night skies, forests, and natural landscapes are expressed through gemstones, craftsmanship, and color combinations.
In “Dream of Joux,” this landscape is transformed into a series of unique bracelets in 18-karat white, yellow, and rose gold, crafted using combinations of diamonds, sapphires, spessartites, tourmalines, amethysts, tsavorites, and topazes. Deep blues, greens, pinks, and warmer hues weave through the links of the Royal Oak, transforming its traditional geometric rigidity into something decidedly more ornamental. The collection also includes a tie-style necklace and matching drop earrings. Here, the inspiration is a winter landscape: teardrop-shaped diamonds cascade downward, while the links—crafted from blue anodized titanium—are covered with blue sapphires of varying sizes set in a snow-set style.
In contrast, the Risoud Eclipse is darker; it takes its name from the Risoud Forest and draws on the Vallée de Joux’s connection to astronomical observation. The image it evokes is that of the forest during an eclipse, with the sky darkened and only a halo of light breaking through the darkness. The first necklace in the collection and its matching bracelet are crafted with links and loops in black PVD-coated titanium, featuring sugarloaf-shaped emeralds set against a backdrop of brilliant-cut diamonds. The emeralds are cut to allow light to pass through them from multiple angles, while the alternation between satin-finished and polished surfaces directly echoes one of the Royal Oak’s signature aesthetic features.
The third element of the collection is Frosted Gold, available in 18-karat white, rose, and yellow gold. The effect, reminiscent of a surface dusted with an ultra-fine layer of diamond powder, stems from an ancient Florentine technique and was introduced to the Audemars Piguet universe in 2016 through a collaboration with jewelry designer Carolina Bucci, to mark the 40th anniversary of the women’s Royal Oak. The process involves hammering the metal with a diamond-tipped tool, creating minute incisions that continuously capture the light. In the new collection, this effect is applied to the links of the Royal Oak and set in contrast with mirror-polished lugs and brilliant-cut bevels. The result preserves the industrial and geometric structure of the original watch, but brings it into a realm much closer to High Jewelry.
Before jewelry watches, there were already watch-jewels
The new collection does not, however, represent a sudden foray into jewelry by Audemars Piguet. These two worlds have been intertwined in the Manufacture’s history practically since its inception. As early as the 19th century, Audemars Piguet drew on techniques from fine jewelry and metalworking to experiment with miniaturization, gem-setting, and decoration, collaborating throughout its history with names such as Tiffany, Cartier, Oscar Heyman, and Bvlgari. These collaborations gave rise to tiny watches designed to be worn as pendants, brooches, and rings, as well as creations adorned with enamel, engravings, and precious stones.
One of the most intriguing examples dates back to 1929, when the timepiece nicknamed “Tutti Frutti” was sold, powered by the Caliber 5/7SB—the smallest movement ever produced by the Manufacture—and adorned with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and blue and yellow sapphires. As the wristwatch gained popularity throughout the 20th century, the connection with fine jewelry grew even stronger. In the 1980s, Audemars Piguet opened its own dedicated workshop, gradually bringing the production of gem-set watches in-house. This journey reached new heights in the early 2000s with High Jewelry pieces and bespoke creations, and continued with projects such as the Diamond Trilogy, created between 2015 and 2017, and the Sapphire Orbe from 2019.
[📸 Courtesy of Audemars Piguet]
