A standout piece from Audemars Piguet’s “Royal Oak” high jewelry collection is the “Risoud Eclipse” necklace. All pieces are price upon request.
Le Brassus, Switzerland—Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet has debuted its first high jewelry collection.
The “Royal Oak” collection is the watchmaker’s first dedicated standalone high jewelry collection, but it is not its first foray into jewelry.
Audemars Piguet established its own jewelry workshop in the 1980s and has made jewelry and one-off high jewelry pieces since its founding in 1875.
The new collection, co-designed by Nathalie Barzilay, takes inspiration from what is arguably the brand’s most well-known watch, the Royal Oak.
First launched in 1972, it was designed by jewelry and watch designer Gérald Genta and has become an iconic model for the brand with its eight-sided bezel and hexagonal screws.
This design element has transformed the octagonal “Royal Oak” clasp, which is used throughout the high jewelry collection in the necklaces, chokers, and cuffs.
The jewels also feature watch links crafted from 18-karat yellow, white, and rose gold along with titanium.
“Blending multidisciplinary expertise, architectural lines, and contemporary elegance, the pattern of sculpted links plays with proportions, texture, and light,” said Audemars Piguet.
Throughout the collection, there are a total of 19 pieces ranging from necklaces, chokers, cuffs, and earrings divided into three sub-collections: “Risoud Eclipse,” “Dream of Joux,” and “Frosted Gold.”
Each was inspired by the Vallée de Joux in the Swiss Jura, where the brand has been based since it was founded, incorporating motifs, textures, color gradients, and material sensations that nod to the location.
Gemstones, including diamond, emerald, sapphire, tsavorite, topaz, tourmaline, amethyst, tanzanite, spessartite, and spinel, are used throughout.
“A gateway to the past and the future, the Royal Oak jewelry collection embodies Audemars Piguet’s free spirit,” said Ilaria Resta, CEO of Audemars Piguet.
“Jewelry has always played an important role in the company’s history. Drawing on our long-standing expertise, we continue to explore this creative realm alongside our core watchmaking activity to fuel our imagination, revisit our codes, and enhance our approach to creation and expression.”
Here are our four standout pieces from the Royal Oak collection.
The “Risoud Eclipse” necklace showcases five sugarloaf emeralds totaling 16.50 carats surrounded by 76 brilliant-cut diamonds set in 18-carat white gold within blackened titanium.
The “Risoud Eclipse” necklace is part of the Risoud Eclipse sub-collection.
It is named for Vallée de Joux’s role in celestial observation—the region is home to the public AstroVal Observatory—with designs that reimagine the Risoud Forest under a shadowed sky with the subtle halo of an eclipse.
The necklace uses black PVD titanium links and showcases five studs of sugarloaf emeralds totaling 16.50 carats. Each emerald is surrounded by brilliant-cut diamonds and set in 18-karat white gold.
The Royal Oak clasp is used here in blackened titanium.
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From the Dream of Joux sub-collection come two standout pieces.
The set looks to the valley’s multifaceted landscape through gem-setting that adds depth, rhythmic harmony, and sensual resonance to its bold architecture, said Audemars Piguet.
It includes one-of-a-kind cuffs representing frozen lakes, clear night skies, and floral motifs.
A “Dream of Joux Sunburst Royal Oak” cuff centering a 0.55-carat orange spessartite cabochon surrounded by 98 diamonds, 108 yellow sapphires, 23 orange sapphires, 15 pink sapphires, 61 orange spessartites, and 23 yellow spessartites in 18-karat yellow gold
One of these cuffs is the “Dream of Joux Sunburst Royal Oak” that takes on solar tones through a sunray motif in 18-karat yellow gold with a Royal Oak clasp.
At the center is a 0.55-carat orange spessartite cabochon with an ombré burst made with 3.39 carats of diamonds, 6.40 carats of yellow sapphires, 3.95 carats of orange spessartites, 1.95 carats of orange sapphires, 1.45 carats of yellow spessartites, and 1.45 carats of pink sapphires.
The second standout piece is the “Dream of Joux” tie necklace that evokes a wintry wonderland through cascading pear-shaped diamonds and anodized blue titanium links.
The “Dream of Joux” tie necklace features one side crafted from blue titanium snow-set with 1,670 blue sapphires and a 5-carat pear-shaped diamond drop while the other side showcases 42 pear-cut diamonds set in 18-karat white gold with a 3-carat pear-shaped diamond drop.
The tie necklace is split into two sides with different designs and a Royal Oak clasp in the middle. On one side, blue titanium is snow-set with 5.23 carats of blue sapphires and showcases a 5-carat pear-shaped diamond drop.
On the other side are 63 carats of pear-shaped diamonds trailing down in 18-karat white gold settings with a 3-carat pear-shaped diamond drop.
Frosted Gold is the most watch-like sub-collection.
An 18-karat yellow gold “Frosted Gold Royal Oak” cuff using an octagonal “Royal Oak” clasp
It encompasses coordinating cuffs and chokers using 18-karat white, rose, or yellow gold links featuring Audemars Piguet’s signature frosted gold finish, used here to capture the ever-changing luminosity of the Vallée de Joux.
The Frosted Gold finish is based on an ancient Florentine technique where a diamond dust effect is achieved by gently hammering metal with a diamond-tipped tool.
It was developed in collaboration with jewelry designer Carolina Bucci in 2016 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak for women.
In the cuff (pictured above), 18-karat yellow gold is used with both the Frosted Gold finish and a high polish, and the links are fastened via a Royal Oak clasp.
