The exhibition dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak was held from 17 to 22 April at the Triennale di Milano. As part of it, Audemars Piguet Italia reserved an evening for L'Orologio Club, inviting five of our readers to a special guided tour. The exhibition was not just a celebratory display. Organised as part of Milan Design Week, it represented the consecration of the Royal Oak as a watchmaking icon, recognised even outside this world. The exhibition proposed an interpretation of the birth and evolution of the Royal Oak (born from the pen of the late Gérald Genta, in 1972) within what we can define as its 'natural habitat', namely the Vallée de Joux, where the Audemars Piguet manufacture is based. The atmosphere and landscapes of the Vallée have been reproduced in the Triennial venue by means of three arts: photography, sound and video. Three contemporary artists, Sébastien Léon Agneessens, Quayola and Dan Holdsworth, were called upon to interpret the place of origin of the Royal Oak through these media. On display, according to a visually original and thoroughly modern itinerary, were no less than 100 timepieces, accompanied by a surround of films showing the savoir-faire of the House, in particular referring to the most salient features of the Royal Oak, such as its unmistakable guilloché dial with its 'petite tapissérie' motif. An original dial decoration machine was present in the small atelier reproduced in a corner of the room, where L'Orologio Club members were able to spend time with a specialised watchmaker, who had come to Milan from green Switzerland to show the exhibition guests the secrets of assembling an automatic calibre. Among the Royal Oak models on display were the first example (Ref. 5402ST), complete with its original 1972 packaging, and a steel and gold version of it that belonged to Gérald Genta himself.
