Aren't you curious who designed the beautiful holy grail of the iconic piece Patek Philippe Nautilus & Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ?
Introduce to you Gérald Genta, Swiss-born watch designer.
Gérald Genta is one of the pioneer designer in Swiss Made Watches. His design are the most iconic and has a tremendous impact on the watch industry. The design it still hype by the collectors in the modern days.
Source: Chasiki
Back in 1971, Gerald Genta was assign to design a "unprecedented steel watch” design for all occasions, which was needed on the following morning. He was only given 24 hours to finish the task.
The Classic Royal Oak octagonal bezel was inspired from the traditional diving helmets. While the 8 hexagonal screws idea, was actually inspired by the screws that held on to the watertight faceplate.
Nonetheless, the name "Royal Oak" was actually named after a famous battleship.Genta felt that the name of the watch had to be nautical-related as it was inspired by the diver’s brass helmet.
-HMS Royal Oak from Britain's Royal Navy
Source: Sotheby's
Apart of Royal Oak's concept success in 1971, the arrival of currently most wanted watches in the world, Patek Philippe Nautilus. The inspiration for the Nautilus struck Genta while he was having dinner at the restaurant of a hotel: the porthole, as found on transatlantic ocean liners. Gerald Genta shared that he saw executives from Patek Philippe sitting in a corner of the dining hall while he was sitting alone in the other corner. From his words, it took him 5 minutes to sketch the watch that would become the icon we look at today. However, nautilus demand was not as good as the Royal back in those days as some think the watch looks abit squarish. Personally love both of the design as it still looks good in any outfit
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