Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 14790ST 'Tropical' Mk2
SoldAudemars Piguet Royal Oak 14790ST 'Tropical' Mk2
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Who doesn’t love the Royal Oak? Unfortunately, for the regular-wristed among us, the Jumbo Royal Oak is just a tad too big. Thankfully, we can still get the full RO experience with the more modestly sized ref. 14790!
The ref. 14790 Royal Oak was launched by Audemars Piguet in 1992. At 36 mm, this mid-size Royal Oak is more wearable than the full-size ‘Jumbo’. Don’t be fooled by its dimensions though, it wears a bit larger due to the Royal Oak’s iconic angular case design.
This 14790ST is a second series steel execution from the 1990s, recognizable due to the applied ‘AP’ logo at the 12 position, the elegant long indices, and Audemars Piguet’s iconic ‘Petite Tapisserie’ engraved pattern. The original black dial has faded to a beautiful and desirable brownish degradé color. Collectors refer to such dials as ‘tropical dials’ due to the degradation of the original (black) lacquer under the influence of outside agents.
The watch was initially purchased from its first owner and is in amazing condition with razor sharp edges. The watch is accompanied by an extract of the Audemars Piguet archives.
Introduction
Audemars PiguetAudemars Piguet is among the holy trinity Swiss maisons d’horlogerie alongside Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. Audemars Piguet has a storied history of producing high-complication watches. It all started in 1875, when Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet founded the company in the heart of the Vallée de Joux, Le Brassus, Switzerland. This pure, rough and wild landscape, with deep, dark forests, ice-cold waters and the omnipresence of rocks and hills, provided inspiration and raw materials for the Swiss watch manufacture to develop the finest watches. Since its inception, Audemars Piguet has specialized in rare, valuable and highly-complicated watches like perpetual calendars, chronographs and chiming watches. Nowadays, the emphasis of Audemars Piguet lies on the iconic Royal Oak line.Royal OakIn 1970, Audemars Piguet instructed Genta to come up with an unprecedented steel watch. As the story goes, he found inspiration whilst seeing a diver at work with an old-fashioned diver’s helmet near Lake Geneva. Staying up all night, Genta drew the design for a circular case with an angular, octagonal bezel, eight visible screws, and an integrated bracelet. The Royal Oak was presented in 1972 as the most expensive steel watch available and it caused an uproar: why was a distinguished maison d’horlogerie putting out a sports watch, let alone in such pedestrian material? Some experts even predicted that the Royal Oak would put Audemars Piguet out of business. Though it took a while to catch on, the Royal Oak is now one of the most iconic and long-lasting watch designs and has spawned an entire product line. It wouldn’t be the first time that Genta would prove a brand’s owners, customers, and industry experts wrong.
Specifications
- SKU 7739
- Model
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Reference
14790ST
- Case Dimensions
- Case Material
- Glass
- Dial
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- Extracts from the Archive
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