This past Wednesday, March 23, 2022, I went to New York City to peruse and photograph the Royal Oaks that are part of the Phillips Watches Royal Oak 50th auction that will take place at the Hôtel La Réserve in Geneva, Switzerland on May 6, 2022. This sale will feature several historically important watches including case No. 2 of the original Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ reference 5402ST as well as Karl Lagerfeld’s PVD coated Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ ref. 5402ST. While those two very important watches were not shipped from Switzerland and I couldn’t see them in person, I was able to see some timepieces that were to die for and that are indeed extremely rare.
In my life as an Audemars Piguet collector and scholar studying the Royal Oak, I’ve seen a lot of very special Royal Oaks and Royal Oak Offshores. WCL holds the largest and most thorough content online about the Royal Oak and is used by many —including Phillips Watches— as the go-to-reference library when it comes to Audemars Piguet. And even when this is the case, on Wednesday there were no less than ten watches from this upcoming sale that blew my socks off and that I didn’t even know existed.
The sale will include a total of 88 lots but the watches I am about to show you are the most special in my opinion. The variety of Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars —especially of the open-worked kind— is simply incredible. Along with those, there are a lot of gem-set pieces that also take the center stage in my opinion.
Along the Royal Oak Perpetuals, there were several favorites for me. However, there is one example in platinum with a brown dial and with case No. 1 signed by Asprey of London, that is out of this world. I personally like that this watch is in platinum but the dial is the icing on the cake and the Asprey signature on the back is the cherry on top of it. Additionally, having a case for this reference 25654PT with a No.1 on it is unfathomable.
Now for those of you that like gem-set watches, there are three very special Royal Oaks that you will love. I personally don’t consider myself a gem-set lover, but these watches are so special that I absolutely had to like them and admire the gem-set work on them.
Now, if you like salmon-colored dials, cream, blue, or even red ones, there are a few examples that will leave you in awe. In the mix, there’s a Royal Oak Jubilee ref. 14802ST with salmon dial, a Royal Oak Extra-Thin Jumbo in 18K white gold with salmon dial ref. 15202BC, a platinum Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ref. 25820PT with salmon dial, a Royal Oak ref. 14790ST with bright red dial —Phillips had sold a similar watch in the past—, and a Royal Oak Date Day aka ‘The Owl’ ref. 25572ST with cream-colored dial signed by Tiffany & Co.
But the two watches that I like the most are a Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in stainless steel ref. 25820ST with a smooth silver dial with recessed calendar registers —that create the illusion of being domed— and a Royal Oak Skeletonized Tourbillon ref. 26518ST. If you have time, make sure you stop by at Phillips to check out some of these incredible Royal Oaks to die for.
The auction viewing dates are as follow:
New York - March 24-28, 2022 at Phillips New York Office, 432 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Taipei - March 31 - April 3, 2022, at Phillips at Art Roastery x Louisa Coffee No. 95, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City
Singapore - April 7-9, 2022 at the St. Regis Hotel, 29 Tanglin Rd - Singapore 247911
London - April 21-24, 2022 at Phillips’ HQ, 30 Berkeley Square, London
Geneva - May 4-8, 2022 at the Hôtel La Réserve, Bellevue, Geneva
For more info on Phillips Watches click here.
