Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 25721ST 'The Beast'

Sold
Sold
  • Free worldwide delivery

We’re very thrilled to bring you the first Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, which is better known as ‘The Beast’.This heavyweight piece of mechanical art dates back to 1997. The Offshore is based on Gerald Genta’s Royal Oak design but was modified by Emmanuel Gueit when he had the age of 22. Initially, most people did not like it. Genta even invaded the booth at Basel World 1993 shouting that his Royal Oak had been destroyed completely by Gueit. To be honest, it also took us a while to get used to the Offshore but now we secretly love it. The watch has a case size of 42 mm (!) and runs on the Jeager-LeCoultre-based chronograph calibre 2226/2840. Underneath the sapphire crystal we find a blue/grey ‘Clous de Paris Petite Tapisserie’ dial. The dial has three sub dials and a cyclops for the date on the dial instead of the sapphire crystal. The white hands and hour markers are still very luminous, which creates a nice contrast with the dial. The crown and chronograph pushers are wrapped in a rubber-like elastomer material called therban, which are in the same blue colour as the dial.

Introduction

Audemars Piguet 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 a 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

Shipping

Packages are generally dispatched within 2 days after receipt of payment and are shipped within the Netherlands by Registered Mail through the Dutch carrier PostNL and for other countries by Fedex. Consult us if you prefer another method of shipping. For most destinations tracking is available.