When it saw the light of day in the spring of 1972, the Royal Oak had a major mission: to put luxury Audemars Piguet replica watches back in the saddle. The family factory, founded in 1875, is indeed on the verge of bankruptcy, and the arrival of Japanese quartz movements does not bode well. You have to react – fast and strong. The man of the situation is called Gérald Genta. The man who is nicknamed today the “Picasso of watches” is not yet a star of watch design, but has to his credit the design of the Omega Constellation. While all the dials of the time were round or…