Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 'Midsize', 1980s
- Maker / attribution
- Audemars Piguet (maker)
- Date
- 1980s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 25 mm
- Stock no.
- 40991486
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991486)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 'Midsize' (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991486), this is a wristwatch by Audemars Piguet, made in Switzerland, dated 1980s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 25 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Analog/Shift
One name: Gerald Genta. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is perhaps Genta’s most memorable work, and in many ways changed the shape of the watch industry. The Royal Oak essentially created an entirely new category of 'luxury sport' timepieces, and with it came a new design language that inspired countless other manufactures. What's particularly delightful about the design of the Royal Oak is that it works brilliantly in a number of sizes and casing materials, from steel to carbon fiber to rose gold. This particular model, however, looks very different from the typical octagonal watch that most often comes to mind; a Reference 6005, it dates to the 1980s — a time when the manufacture was iterating on existing model families with new case designs, and with quartz technology. This particular Reference 6005 features a 25mm two-tone steel and gold case with a sapphire crystal, an unsigned pusher crown, a polished gold bezel, and a grey micro-tappiserie dial with a yellow gold 'stick' handset. Powered by quartz movement, it comes paired to the iconic Royal Oak integrated bracelet with a signed locking deployant clasp. The larger Reference 6005 is an outlier within the already exceptional Royal Oak family. This midsize variant makes for an even more rare, more demure alternative. Funky, and interesting, and fun all while a great value play.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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