After years wondering about when it would arrive at auction, Gerald Genta’s Personal Royal Oak is here to be auctioned at Sotheby’s on May 10, 2022.

Genta was without any one the most influential designer in the history of watchmaking. In recent years, collectors have rediscovered its importance thanks to the success of its two most iconic designs, namely those of the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, which in the last 5 years have become among the most coveted and sought after watches on the market.

In this other article you can read our selection among the other 142 lots at auction before diving into the history of this ref.5402.

The importance of this timepiece

These years will go down in history for the success that the Royal Oak, the Nautilus and several other designs by Genta, which have been rediscovered by the new generations of enthusiasts like us and which have become the watches to absolutely own.

Thanks to the Gerald Genta Heritage Association created by his wife Evelyne, enthusiasts were able to acquire some pieces of Genta’s legacy at Sotheby’s “Icon of Time” thematic auctions, like several watercolors of his most iconic designs, such as those previously mentioned.

Thinking of owning Genta’s 5402, its creator’s personal watch, is nothing short of unique, a bit like owning Battista Pininfarina’s Ferrari 275 GTB Speciale, the man who designed it.

The story Gerald Genta’s personal Royal Oak

Gérald Genta’s personal Royal Oak is unique both in its provenance and in its configuration. The first Royal Oak was produced in 1972, but as Audemars Piguet archives confirm, Genta waited until May 15, 1978 before purchasing one for himself.

The watch, however, was not born with a gold bezel, the “Picasso of Watches” had the yellow gold bezel made in his atelier, and then replaced it with the steel one, making it probably the only 5402 in the world in this particular configuration. On the back we read the serial C, which belongs to the batch produced in those years.

Also, in 2018, we were able to retrieve an extremely rare shot of Monsieur Genta, wearing the watch, wondering where it could be found and when it would arrive at auction. Fortunately, this year we have received all the answers we have been waiting for.

Sotheby’s auction on 10 May 2022

This is the first time that the watch has left its home, thus the first time ever to have been put up for auction. We think it may be the most historically important watch ever proposed in the catalogues worldwide. Sotheby’s has chosen lot number 72 to be allocated to this piece, the same year of the birth of the RO, 1972.

Just think that the original drawing of the first Royal Oak from 1972 was also sold at Sotheby’s for a whopping CHF 564,500 (€ 558,760). The estimate of the personal Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 5402 worn by Gerald Genta is CHF 300,000-500,000. How much do you think it will total?

For all updates in real time, follow the IWS Instagram profile, while the complete catalog of the auction can be consulted here.