Though it was far from an overnight success, the Royal Oak had essentially ushered in the style we now know as the “luxury sports watch.” Its most groundbreaking design elements, like visible screws, octagonal bezels, textured dials, and integrated bracelets, would be emulated by legions of watches in the decades to come. The Case for Icon Status: The Royal Oak’s position in the pantheon of horological immortals is fairly indisputable. ![]() The original model was made of stainless steel rather than gold, unthinkable for a high-priced luxury watch at the time, though that model has since spawned an entire family of Royal Oak models that encompass an array of complications and materials. ![]() The watch contained what was at the time the world’s thinnest mechanical watch movement with a date indication, Caliber 2121, which measured a mere 3.05 mm in height. Genta intended the watch to embody a nautical aesthetic, hence the dive-helmet elements and also the name: Royal Oak, a reference to the British naval warships named after the oak tree that sheltered King Charles II during the English Civil War. 5402, fondly nicknamed “Jumbo” due to its large-for-the-time 39mm case diameter, featured an unprecedented, octagonal-shaped bezel with exposed hexagonal screws at each of its corners (meant to resemble a diver’s helmet), a dial enhanced with a checkerboard textured guilloché pattern known as “grand tapisserie,” and a case that integrated smoothly into a meticulously designed, tapering bracelet with alternating finishes on its outer and inner links. Designed by the visionary Gérald Genta, the Royal Oak made its debut in 1972. History: Audemars Piguet began making watches in 1875, but its most historically significant timepiece made its debut nearly a century later. The Case for Icon Status: Quite simply, no other timepiece comes close to embodying both the renaissance of German high watchmaking and the pinnacle of asymmetrical yet harmoniously balanced dial design. The Lange 1 is today the foundation of a versatile collection, incorporating high complications from dual-time indications to perpetual calendars. The in-house movement also bore the influence of Saxon watchmaking traditions, like the three-quarter mainplate made of untreated German silver and decorated with Glashütte stripes, Germany’s variation on the Swiss “Geneva waves” motif hand-engraved finishing on the balance cock and the “swan’s neck” regulating device. The Lange 1, introduced in 1994, was the clear flagship of the modern collection, with its unconventional layout of large and small overlapping subdials with ancient German-designed fonts analog power-reserve indicator with German-language “auf” (up) and “aub” (down) indications and large date display in double windows that took historical inspiration from the clock at Dresden’s Semper Opera House. With German reunification came that industry’s revival, led by a reconstituted Lange firm that included Adolph’s great-great-grandson Walter Lange on the management team. As I explore in greater much detail here, the entire German watchmaking industry was devastated by World War II and the subsequent Cold War. watchmaking factory in the German town of Glashütte in Saxony. History: Even though the Lange 1 has only been on the scene since 1994, the watch, and the company that makes it, trace their roots much further into history, specifically to 1845, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange established the original A. Of course, any listing such as this is guaranteed to generate opinions, which we encourage you to share in the comments section at the bottom. Scroll down to read the list, which includes one iconic movement (you can probably guess which one) and four timepieces that might be a bit too new on the scene for definitive inclusion but which we can confidently call the Icons of Tomorrow. As you'll note upon reading the list, each watch we chose is defended with its Case for Icon Status based on the above criteria. Often, a watch becomes iconic when it becomes associated with a celebrity or other historical figure, and some achieve iconic status simply by being the trailblazer for a certain complication or now-ubiquitous function or element. Our team took all of these factors into account while tackling the bold and frankly somewhat intimidating task of listing the world's most iconic watches. Ideally, an iconic watch should also be one that has remained true to its original conception throughout the years and recognizable by even the most casual of watch enthusiasts. An iconic watch should be timeless in its appeal, influential in its design, and impactful in its market presence. However, most of us likely agree on several key points. ![]() The definition of an iconic watch is, of course, highly subjective, and a consensus on what makes a watch iconic is just about impossible to achieve. 0% interest for up to 24 months available on select brands.
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