Audemars Piguet for women: Gem, set and match

WITH an angular case, exposed bezel screws and an integrated bracelet, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was an unconventional starting point for a women’s watch. Created by jewellery and timepiece designer Gerald Genta, it broke with watchmaking convention when it debuted in 1972. Its substantial, hand-finished stainless steel case featured an octagonal bezel, while an extra-thin self-winding movement kept its profile slim.

Yet in 1976, Jacqueline Dimier, the maison’s first in-house designer, showed how elegantly Genta’s original creation could be adapted for women. She refined its proportions, bringing greater delicacy to its multifaceted surfaces.

Her interpretation helped establish the Royal Oak as a design that could evolve across materials, sizes and generations, appealing to both genders. In the 1990s, Emmanuel Gueit, who worked alongside Dimier, broadened the Royal Oak’s design repertoire with the muscular Royal Oak Offshore and a line of Royal Oak jewellery.

Today, the Royal Oak offers women a broader choice of materials, sizes and complications. Two new launches explore that range from different perspectives: a chronograph developed with tennis star, entrepreneur and producer Serena Williams and a jewellery line inspired by the collection’s distinctive bracelet.

A personal touch

Williams has collaborated with the brand for more than a decade. For the latest Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph “Serena Williams” Limited Edition, she wanted the design to reflect more of her personality. Alongside her strength, determination and competitive drive familiar to fans, she sought to express creativity, intuition and joy. Her involvement centred on the belief that power, grace and feminine energy can coexist. The choice of materials gives that idea a tangible form. White ceramic, which Williams associates with resilience, forms the 38 mm case, bezel, push-pieces, crown and integrated bracelet. Its hardness makes it demanding to shape and finish, requiring particular precision to preserve the Royal Oak’s crisp edges and proportions. Satin brushing and meticulously finished chamfers highlight its many facets, retaining the definition seen on the collection’s steel and gold models. Against this angular exterior, the polished, pink-tinted mother-of-pearl dial brings warmth and softness, its iridescence shifting with the light.

Rhodium-toned rings outline the chronograph counters, adding contrast to the pale dial. Luminescent hands and applied hour-markers keep the indications legible. The date appears in white numerals against a pink background between four and five o’clock. An additional matching pink rubber strap, fitted with white ceramic studs and a titanium AP folding clasp, offers a more casual alternative to the bracelet.

Powering the watch is the new in-house Calibre 6401, which succeeds Calibre 2385, the movement that powered Audemars Piguet’s smaller chronographs for nearly 30 years. Its predecessor debuted in the first Royal Oak chronograph in 1997, marking the collection’s 25th anniversary.

Introduced earlier in 2026, Calibre 6401 brings an updated chronograph mechanism and revised counter layout. A column wheel controls the chronograph functions, while a patented vertical-clutch system uses fewer components for smoother activation and improved reliability. The elapsed-minute counter sits at nine o’clock, with elapsed hours at three o’clock and an instant-jump date between four and five o’clock. Operating at 4 Hz, the self-winding movement offers a minimum power reserve of 55 hours. The sapphire caseback reveals a 22-karat pink gold oscillating weight, along with movement finishing that includes Geneva stripes, circular graining, polishing and satin brushing. Its titanium frame is engraved with “Limited Edition”. Produced in a series of 500 pieces, the watch is 11.1 mm thick and is water-resistant to 50 m.

Precious links

Royal Oak Joaillerie centres on the watch’s hallmark bracelet, translating its design into a collection of necklaces, cuffs and earrings. Co-designed with the maison’s head gemmologist Nathalie Barzilay, it reworks the geometry of the links and connecting studs, playing with their proportions, finishes and gem-setting. Jewellery has contributed to Audemars Piguet’s watchmaking expertise since the 19th century, advancing its work in miniaturisation, gem-setting and decorative metalwork. Collaborations with jewellers including Tiffany, Cartier and Bulgari produced diminutive pendant, brooch and ring watches, as well as timepieces embellished with enamel, engraving and gemstones. As wristwatches gained popularity in the 20th century, their cases and bracelets offered further scope to experiment with shapes, materials and ornamentation.

The growing demand for watches with welded bracelets prompted Audemars Piguet to establish its own jewellery workshop in the 1980s. It progressively brought the creation of elaborate gem-set timepieces in-house, developing bespoke high jewellery pieces and watches by the early 2000s. Royal Oak Joaillerie extends that expertise through the Risoud Eclipse and Dream of Joux high jewellery lines, each comprising one-of-a-kind creations made on demand, alongside a series of Frosted Gold cuffs and chokers.

Inspiration comes from the Vallee de Joux, the Swiss Jura valley where Audemars Piguet has been based since 1875. Its forests, lakes, flowers and night skies are reinterpreted through gemstones and surface treatments. Octagonal clasps reinforce the connection to the Royal Oak.

The Risoud Eclipse set evokes the valley’s Risoud Forest beneath an eclipsed sky. Black physical vapour deposition-coated titanium links and studs provide a dramatic setting for sugarloaf emeralds surrounded by brilliant-cut diamonds. Five emeralds weighing about 16.5 carats adorn the necklace, while three totalling around 12 carats are set on the matching cuff. Satin brushing and polished chamfers bring definition to the dark metal and amplify the stones’ lustre.

The Dream of Joux creations reimagine the diverse landscape into more colourful compositions using sophisticated gem-setting. Highlights include the yellow gold Sunburst Royal Oak cuff, which combines diamonds with sapphires and spessartites in shades of yellow, orange and pink. The Tree of Life Royal Oak cuff depicts a leafy tree using graduated green tsavorites and cognac-coloured sapphires. Rendered in white gold, the Blue Moon Royal Oak cuff evokes its namesake through the icy hues of brilliant-cut diamonds, deep blue sapphires and topazes in Swiss blue and London blue shades.

A wintry palette distinguishes the Royal Oak tie necklace and matching drop earrings, which pair cascading pear-shaped diamonds with anodised blue titanium links snow-set with sapphires. Here, the blue gems are closely set together to completely cover the links and studs, giving them a unique shimmer. 

The Frosted Gold series achieves its sparkle through metalworking. Its finish was developed with jeweller Carolina Bucci in 2016 to mark the 40th anniversary of the women’s Royal Oak. Based on an ancient Florentine technique, it involves gently hammering the gold with a diamond-tipped tool to create tiny indentations that catch the light. Offered in white, pink or yellow gold, the cuffs and chokers contrast these finely textured surfaces with mirror-polished studs and polished chamfers. The interplay of finishes highlights the unmistakable design of the Royal Oak bracelet.