Our research for collectors continues: this time, our expert explores the history of Audemars Piguet’s bestseller.
In 2022, the Swiss brand Audemars Piguet launched the new anniversary Ref. 16202 and automatic Caliber 7121 movement. They replaced their respective predecessors, Ref. 15202 and Caliber 2121.
Cal. 2121 was the very movement which once equipped early Royal Oak "Jumbo" models that are now collector's pieces. This was a pivotal moment — an important turning point in this watch's history, when we finally bid farewell to the original kit housed inside the Royal Oak "Jumbo".
It's perfectly understandable that these are moments tinged with sadness. We've grown fond of the Ref. 5402ST over the fifty years since the first Royal Oak was launched, when it had yet to be nicknamed "Jumbo".
We loved it for what it was until the very end. The opposite could be said of feelings among collectors, professionals on the market for collector's watches, auctioneers and dealers. This was more of a positive moment for them. The end of the road for this watch has transformed it into a collector's classic.
The story of the Royal Oak collection and its flagship model dubbed "Jumbo" is well documented in the media with many versions in the public domain. There's hardly any point going into the reasons why watches in this collection are becoming more popular in general with a detailed analysis covering the whole range of Royal Oak "Jumbo” models. There are just so many, and almost every one of them has its own concrete back story.
In 2022 Audemars Piguet launched the new anniversary Ref. 16202 and automatic Caliber 7121 movement. They replaced their respective predecessors, Ref. 15202 and Caliber 2121.
Besides, that kind of analysis wouldn't have any practical value — it's been done before. The time has come to focus on the position Royal Oak "Jumbo" occupies on the pre-owned market and analyze the variations in all the versions made over the previous fifty years. This research provides information gathered from reputable sources about all the key evolutionary stages of Royal Oak "Jumbo".
These sources are mainly the websites of the top auction houses operating on the pre-owned watch market: Phillips, Sotheby’s, Christies, Antiquorum and Ineichen Auctioneers. These resources are complemented by useful and detailed information which can be found on Audemars Piguet's website: apchronicles.audemarspiguet.com.
Ref. 5402ST
Ref. 5402ST is the original steel Royal Oak "Jumbo" model introduced in 1972 and produced until around 1990 in four series: A, B, C and D. Apart from them, there were also non-numbered watches made in what's known as "No-Series" or "Non-Series" after the first A-Series batch.
There was another ultra-thin "No Letter" series made and 21 pieces were sold after the D-series. A total of 6050 pieces of Ref. 5402ST were released, which retailed over a period from 1972 to 2002.
Watches from the series A, B, C and D had a special marking on their casebacks consisting of the Royal Oak logo and the number of the piece in its series. Some examples would be No A 999 or No B 1999.
"No-Series" or "Non-Series" watches weren't numbered and "No Letter" pieces weren't marked with the letter to denote the series. Royal Oak watches have subsequently been identified by series, e.g., Royal Oak "A-series" etc., or as Royal Oak "No-Series" or Royal Oak "No Letter".
Watches from the series A, B, C and D had a special marking on their casebacks.
You need to keep in mind that there were three elements used to mark Royal Oak "Jumbo" watches, not counting the "No-Series" or "Non-Series" pieces with two markings instead of three.
Watches had the movement number engraved on the movement, the case number engraved on the inside of the caseback in those years, and the number of the piece in its series.
Audemars Piguet began marking cases in 1951. A-series watches had a five-character case number but AP reached six figures from the year 1975, around the end of the B-series and the launch of the C-series.
The next generation of numbering began with the first letter "B" and digits. In order to avoid confusion: you can tell which place a piece occupies in a series by the number on its caseback, which is denoted No A 999 with spaces between “No”, the letter “A” “B”, “C” or “D” and “999”, while the case number isn't preceded by the symbol “No”.
This system for marking watches in the Royal Oak collection was adhered to right up until recently with the number that each piece occupies in its series and the case number engraved on the outside of the caseback. A-series Royal Oak watches ended up selling out fairly quickly. The brand sold nearly 1000 pieces within the space of a year after its launch.
This prompted the decision to extend the series to 2000 pieces, which was taken by George Golay, who was the Managing Director at the time and the main driving force behind the Royal Oak project. Some numbers weren't used for various reasons, which is why there was a total of only 1937 Royal Oak A-series pieces sold over the period between 1972 and 1989.
After the A-series, the brand's management seems to have paused for reflection to decide whether or not to continue making Ref. 5402ST watches, and if so, how should the brand position itself towards clients who were told the watch was a limited edition.
This is reflected in the brand's advertising text in French: “Chaque exemplaire des séries limitées de Royal Oak est numéroté” (each watch in the Royal Oak limited series is numbered). This resulted in a secret series of 129 "No-Series" or "Non-Series"watches.
Searching through the brand's archives, it appears they were made during this period — after the end of the A-series but before a fateful decision was made on whether to continue Ref. 5402ST. A decision was ultimately made, and it was a rather unusual one.
The brand would continue to manufacture the reference number, although it would now use "B" "C" and "D". The numbering for these series wouldn't begin with "B 1" like the system used for A-series watches: they started from "B 1000", and no more than one thousand pieces were manufactured in any given series.
This is reflected in the brand's advertising text in French: “Chaque exemplaire des séries limitées de Royal Oak est numéroté”.
This appears to have been done in order to maintain the exclusive image of the first thousand pieces in the A-series. As a result, 845 B-series watches were sold over the period between 1975 to 1993. The first C-series Royal Oak emerged from the workshop in December 1976, followed by just 952 others marked from C 1000 to C 2000 sold until 1987.
They were followed by the launch of the D-series with 404 pieces sold from 1977 to 1989. The last 21 pieces referenced 5402ST sold from 1988 to 1990 were marked with a number without letters to denote the series (dubbed "No Letter"), continuing the numbering for two-tone models as noted in the apchronicles (steel and yellow gold).
The initial version of Ref. 5402ST received the greatest number of minor tweaks over all the years. There's a common misconception that A-series watches can be identified by the "AP" initials at 6 o'clock, whereas watches from the other series have them positioned at 12 o'clock.
According to information provided in apchronicles, Audemars Piguet placed an order for dials with "AP" at 12 o'clock in 1977, when the brand had another 1200 dials at its disposal with "AP" at 6 o'clock. What we can infer from this is that some pieces could were equipped with first-generation dials while others were given second-generation dials when the C-series (the latter half of the series) and D-series were being made.
Another factor which adds to the uncertainty is subsequent servicing. It isn't uncommon to hear stories about watches sent to the service center being furnished with new dials which would generally be second-generation dials. It should also be noted that servicing could involve restoring the dial, as patina would often appear on the dials of Ref. 5402ST pieces, changing the color of the dial.
In a full restoration, the dial would have to be recolored in a galvanic bath, the applied markers and hands would be changed, and there would have to be a freshly stamped logo, minute scale and inscriptions. The brand began signing its dials “Swiss made” instead of “Swiss” after the year 1985, which had been used on almost all Ref. 5402ST pieces up until then.
Apchronicles notes that the last 133 pieces of Ref. 5402ST sold between the years 1985 and 2002 could be signed “Swiss made”. That's why watches which have had their dials "refurbished" after 1985 could be signed “Swiss made”, which is the most obvious sign that a watch dial isn't in its original condition, although you couldn't call it a necessary or conclusive sign. Further signs would be fresh lume, the absence of a noticeable patina, the new thicker "fat" hands, along with the absence of short markings on the minute scale.