Gérald Genta’s original artwork for Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak steel sports watch sold for CHF 546,500 (£455,000) at auction yesterday.
With VAT and buyer’s premium, the new owner — confirmed exclusively to WATCHPRO to be Audemars Piguet for its own museum — will be paying over half a million pounds for the sketch.
A second, earlier, sketch by Mr Genta of a Royal Oak, which was rejected by Audemars Piguet in the early 1970s, sold for CHF 151,200 (£122,000).
The two AP designs were comfortably the most expensive lots in the Christie’s auction, which also sold sketches of Cartier’s Pasha and a number of designs for private collectors and Gérald Genta’s own watch brand.
Each design was sold with a unique NFT-protected digital replica, which also serves as a record of ownership and proof of provenance.
Auction highlights
The Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of one of Genta’s most famous designs – that of the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet – the first sale will be led by two of his designs for the watch that has come to define his legacy.
The Original Prototype Design for The Royal Oak
Including all features and characteristics that were to become so emblematic for the model. Beautifully crafted on blue paper and signed by the artist himself, this lot encompasses both beauty and historic importance.
Three designs for the Pasha de Cartier, one of Genta’s favourite brands
Supposedly, the roots of the Pasha de Cartier go back to a timepiece ordered by the Pasha of Marrakech in the early 1930s, who wanted a watch that is water resistant and could keep up with an active lifestyle.
Still in Cartier’s collection today, the Cartier de Pasha has become an icon in its own right.
Genta was commissioned to recreate the watch with a complication component, and the round watch positively broke boundaries for Cartier, opening a new era for them. The movements for these very complicated watches were made in the Genta factory.
Never before seen private commissions
For Genta’s exclusive clients, which included the Moroccan King, the Sultans of Oman and of Brunei, the King of Spain, the King of Saudi Arabia, the Queen Mother of England as well as leading businessmen, sportsmen and entertainers, Genta created unique, prestigious and audacious models, some of which took years to emerge.
Represented in this sale are Genta’s design for a horse-shaped sword stick made for an undisclosed Head of State, set with diamonds and demonstrating Genta’s typical extravagance.
A wristwatch, also commissioned by a Head of State comprises a dial based on the painting ‘Les Amoureux’ by Raymond Peynet, and a design for a perpetual calendar desk clock created for a King in the Middle East. This very intricate design, which Gérald Genta stated on different occasions that this very design was his favourite, took a week to paint.
Quintessential Gerald Genta designs
Including Haute Joallarie pieces, a majestic lion family mantel clock, a playful Pink Panther desk clock, sports clocks and watches, and erotic watches, carrying on the historic tradition.
Over £500,000 for a commercial sketch may seem eye-watering, but the next Gérald Genta ‘Icon of Time’ auction may top it because that event will include the designers artwork for the original Patek Philippe Nautilus.
Dates for the Gérald Genta ‘Icon of Time’ sales
- Geneva, February 10 – 24 (includes previously unseen very first design for the Royal Oak).
- Hong Kong, March 10 – 24 (original design for the Nautilus and three for the Grand Sonnerie)
- New York, April 13 – 27 (original designs for the Disney collection)
- Geneva, May (Genta’s personal Royal Oak and four oil paintings)
