Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is excited to announce The Geneva Sessions, Spring 2024, online auction, taking place from 12:00 PM CET, Tuesday, March 5, to 2:00 PM CET, Tuesday, March 12. Featuring more than 80 different high-end luxury wristwatches, the sale covers everything from A. Lange & Söhne and F.P. Journe to Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. It even includes the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in frosted 18k white gold that is featured in this story.
– By Logan Baker
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A talented designer who happens to be a woman is hired by Audemars Piguet to rejuvenate the Swiss watchmaker’s flagship model, the Royal Oak.
She succeeds, finding tremendous success, elevating the famously iconoclastic sport watch to new heights.
Jacqueline Dimier was one of the first women to serve as the Head of Product Design at a major Swiss watchmaker. She took over the role in 1975 and remained in the position just before the turn of the millennium, in 1999. Dimier didn’t hesitate to make her impact known.
She quickly built on the Royal Oak platform in countless directions, introducing the first Royal Oak targeted toward women (the ref. 8638) in 1976, followed by the first precious-metal Royal Oaks (in 18k yellow gold and two-tone) the next year, in 1977. She transformed the Royal Oak into a holistic collection, guiding the model through her 24-year tenure with various updates including diamond-set examples and ones that abandoned the Royal Oak’s signature Tapisserie dial texture. Not to mention her role as the architect behind the influential next-gen Royal Oak ref. 4100 range.
It would be fair to conclude that, outside progenitor Gérald Genta himself, no person had as much influence in making the Royal Oak the world-beating icon it is today than Ms. Dimier.
So, in 2016, when the 40th anniversary of the ladies’ Royal Oak came about, Audemars Piguet decided to honor her storied career and prominent legacy the best way they knew how – by enlisting another talented designer – and woman – to breathe new life into the Royal Oak.
Enter Carolina Bucci.
The fourth-generation Italian jeweler is best known as the founder and designer behind her eponymous fine jewelry company. She happened to own, and adore, a birth year (1976) example of the Royal Oak in the so-called “men’s’” size (ahem, 36mm).
Eventually, a friend of hers, keenly aware of Bucci’s infatuation with the Royal Oak, introduced Bucci to Audemars Piguet’s longtime former CEO, the equally energetic and enigmatic François-Henry Bennahmias. She eventually visited him at the Audemars Piguet manufacture in Le Brassus, and it wasn’t too long after that when the invite came from Bennahmias for her to create the next hit Royal Oak. Bennahmias granted her near carte blanche so she could reimagine the Royal Oak in her personal creative vision. Keep in mind – Bucci had never designed a watch before.
What she eventually came up with, and what was unveiled to the world in late 2016, was centered on the use of a new micro-hammered case and bracelet decoration that gives the Royal Oak a jewel-like shimmer. Bucci had successfully adapted an old-school jewelry technique called the “Florentine Finish” that she had used in her jewelry workshop for decades. Audemars Piguet, and collectors around the world, have taken to calling it “Frosted Gold.”
The unique finishing process involves taking a diamond-tipped drill and repeatedly hammering the gold material until an evenly textured appearance begins to form on all visible external surfaces. It’s not too different from the beloved hammered dial technique used occasionally by brands like A. Lange & Söhne, Moritz Grossmann, and Rexhep Rexhepi/Akrivia.
As you might imagine, the finishing work requires a perfectly steady hand to strike the gold surfaces with the necessary precision and delicacy to achieve the desired dimpled texture without outright damaging the famously soft precious metal.
In order to preserve the Royal Oak’s general case and bracelet profile, the finishing is applied by hand to all individual external components. Yes, that means that each and every one of the Royal Oak’s famous bracelet links that are destined for the “Frosted Gold” collection must undergo an individual time-intensive Florentine treatment before moving on to quality control and assembly.
It’s a lengthy process, but it is remarkable how compelling the Frosted texture can prove to be in the sunlight – and it’s only through this level of handcraft are AP’s finishers able to preserve details like mirror-polished bevels on all case and bracelet edges, as well as the finely grained brushing on the watch’s flanks.
The only non-dial surfaces that don’t receive frosting include the bracelet interior, the "AP" logo on the braceet clasp, the caseback, the edge of the bezel, and the edges of the bracelet links.
Audemars Piguet and Bucci officially announced their partnership and the resulting Frosted Gold collection in November 2016, but it wasn’t until the SIHH trade show in January 2017 that collectors, retailers, and members of the press were able to handle the finished model.
Four different examples were revealed at that time – with your choice between 18k white gold or 18k pink gold, and between a 33mm quartz-powered watch or a 37mm automatic watch. Although it’s clear that Bucci was brought on board by Bennahmias to develop a new, more feminine Royal Oak, it quickly became clear that the Frosted Gold models had massive appeal across the gender spectrum. Certain eagle-eyed collectors noticed what appeared to be a prototype of a larger diameter Frosted Gold Royal Oak on Bennahmias’ wrist throughout the trade show.
One year later and Audemars Piguet answered the calls for a larger watch, introducing a 41mm limited-to-200-pieces Frosted Royal Oa in 18k white gold with a blue tapisserie dial, alongside an assortment of new dial colors for the original 33mm and 37mm pieces. Audemars Piguet and Bucci have continued to release new Frosted Gold Royal Oaks every year following the collection’s debut (alongside a few Millenary examples, as well), including memorable pieces like a gem-set Frosted Double Balance Wheel Openworked and a Frosted yellow gold example with a mirrored dial. It’s become one of the most recognizable Royal Oak variations to spot on celebrity wrists, too.
Even Jasmine Audemars, a member of the brand’s founding family and the longtime chairwoman of AP's board (a role she stepped down from at the end of 2022), appears to be a fan of what Bucci’s done to the Royal Oak. She’s frequently been seen wearing an example of the original 37mm models since their 2016 debut.
Lot 80 in the upcoming Phillips Watches Geneva Sessions, Spring 2024, Online Auction, is one of those same models. It comes in 18k white gold with the “Frosted” case finish, as well as the larger 37mm diameter with an automatic movement inside. It's also the first Frosted Gold Royal Oak to appear at a Phlillips Watches Auction. A limited release of 200 pieces, the available watch remains in excellent condition and comes correct with all the accessories, including the official Audemars Piguet warranty, plenty of product literature, the presentation box, and the outer packaging. It carries an estimate of CHF 30,000 to 60,000.
You can view the complete catalog for the Phillips Watches Geneva Sessions, Spring 2024, Online Auction, right here.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade reporting on every aspect of the watch business. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He splits his time between New York and Geneva.
Recommended Reading
A Sparkling Legend: A Brief History of the Gem-Set Royal Oak
Understanding The Twin-Metal, Tone-On-Tone Royal Oak, The Ultimate In Stealth Wealth