The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, another Genta masterpiece from 1972, saved the company from the quartz crisis. Its audacious use of stainless steel for a luxury-priced watch, its distinctive octagonal bezel secured by eight hexagonal white gold screws, and its tapisserie dial broke all the rules. It is a statement of non-conformity, a symbol of avant-garde design and engineering courage.
In the end, a luxury mechanical watch is an island of permanence in a river of obsolescence. Your smartphone will be outdated in two years; your smartwatch in perhaps five. But a finely crafted mechanical timepiece, properly cared for, will not only outlive you, it will tick on for centuries, a faithful chronicler of time for generations yet unborn.
