The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philipp Nautilus are two of the most desired watches of these days. These two watches have been designed by Gerald Genta. The legend says that Genta designed the Royal Oak in one night, taking inspiration from deep-sea diving helmets and their visible screws. Genta designed the Nautilus in five minutes in 1976. These two sister watches were not so popular at the beginning. The integrated-bracelet steel sports design for a luxury watch was quite polarizing at the time. Time changed. It is not extremely difficult to get one of these two models in the official boutiques and their price on the pre-own market is truly indecent. The current watch trend is also on watches with big diameter. Often too big. How many times did I see people wearing on their wrist watches, which look like a coke can? Too often. And this is not cool, this is just ridiculous. But to be able to wear a watch with the right size, this one should be available. However 34 mm for a watch with a bezel, like the Royal Oak, may seem too small. But is it really? Let's find out.

This new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak has a 34 mm diameter and 8.8 mm high stainless steel case. I really appreciate the small thickness of the watch, especially for a sport watch. The watch wears surprisingly very well on a 16 cm wrist. Because of its small thickness, the watch looks larger on the wrist than expected.

The watch has a small diameter but the Royal Oak design is preserved. The watch has a stainless steel octagonal bezel with height screws. The bezel top surface is vertically stain-brushed, whereas its flanks are polished.

The watch angular stainless steel case also has vertically satin-brushed top surface and flanks. The case bevels are polished.

To contrast with the octagonal bezel, the dial is round. The dial texture is quite sophisticated. The “Grande Tapisserie” dial texture is composed of parallel rows of squares. Two additional circular textures are superimposed onto and in between the square pattern. These different levels of textures give to the dial its unique aspect. The network of squares can thus appear brighter of darker than the dial background depending of the external light angle.

The white gold hour and minute hands as well as the facetted white gold applied hour-markers are filled with luminescent coating. The minute track is printed in black color on the silver dial.

A date window is located at 3 o'clock. The date is painted in black color on a white background. The date window is thus not too intrusive and well inserted in the dial layout.

The crown adopts a hexagonal bolt-shape. The flanks are satin-brushed. The crown surface is polished and signed with the "AP" logo.

The applied white gold "AP" logo is located just below the 12 o'clock hour index. Just below the logo is printed in black color "AUDEMARS PIGUET".

The watch is powered by the in-house calibre 5800. This self-winding caliber beats at 28'800 v/h and has a 50 h power reserve.

The watch caliber can be seen through the transparent case back. The gold rotor surface has vertically polished and sand blasted surfaces. "AP" and "AUDEMARS PIGUET" are engraved in the rotor. The movement bridges and plates are decorated.

The bracelet of the Royal Oak is fantastic. The main and intermediate links are vertically satin-brushed. The sides of the intermediate links are polished. The edges of the main links are also polished and aligned with the case bevels. The bracelet main links have different sizes, giving some lateral curvature to the bracelet. The size of the intermediate links is also decreasing to keep the main-intermediate link proportions. The bracelet is close by a twin-trigger double-deployant clasp, with the "AP" logo engraved. The bracelet is not connected to the case by a spring bar. A screw has instead been used by AP. This is a higher quality engineering.

I have never been attracted by the Royal Oak and I never understood the frenzy around this watch... that was before I tried one. The Royal Oak is a steel sport watch, but it is only when you have it on the wrist that you can really appreciate the beauty of the watch. Its beauty is hidden in the details. The dial has several levels of textures to play with the external light. The octagonally-shaped bezel with the embedded screws is iconic. The watch bracelet is also magnificent. The size of the intermediate links is decreasing with the bracelet curvature, the tiny polished areas enhance the main satin-brushing. The watch design may looks simple from far because the watch is so well balanced, but don't be mistaken, there is a lot to reach this results. The Royal Oak may be in steel but it is a true luxury watch.
I know many people will think that a 34 mm diameter Royal Oak is too small. The watch however and wears larger than it real size. The 34 mm Royal Oak has the same presence as a standard 37 mm diameter watch. On 16 cm circumference wrist, the watch looks great. The watch will be suitable for smaller wrists and also larger ones. I found that people with 16 cm wrist can wears 41, 37 and 34 mm Royal Oak, but the feeling is different. The attention focuses on the dial for a large diameter, whereas it is focus on the bracelet for a small diameter. A larger watch looks also sportier, whereas a small one looks dressier. So I overall recommend to choose according to the style that fits you instead on focussing on the mathematical dimensions of the dial. In any case the Royal Oak is a great looking watch, that should be in any high-end watch collection.