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Audemars Piguet is bringing a new collection of high jewellery to Paris this week, broadcasting ambitions to bulk up expertise in the category.
The Royal Oak Joaillerie collection — named after the brand’s top selling watch — draws on codes of the famous timepiece and includes an emerald-encrusted necklace in black titanium evoking the geometry of its metal wristband.
The collection fits a strategy of further raising the profile of the Royal Oak watch as the brand augments its jewellery repertoire, chief executive officer Ilaria Resta told The Business of Fashion.
“It’s the first time we truly do a jewellery collection that is extremely laser focused, glorifying the Royal Oak,” said Resta. Past jewellery production has been intermittent and at a small scale.
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Resta joined the brand in 2024 bringing experience from the consumer goods sector — notably beauty — and has made a splash in the watchmaking industry, most recently with Audemars Piguet’s sold-out pocket watch collaboration with Swatch priced at under $500. She is also leading a push with female shoppers, recently launching a white ceramic and pink Royal Oak watch with Serena Williams.
Resta, who renewed many of the management teams at the family-owned company, has hired additional gemologists and engravers. Jewellery has always been part of the brand’s past, she said.
“If you look at the very beginning, watchmaking and jewellery have been very much interconnected,” said Resta.
Audemars Piguet had a jewellery unit around 50 years ago, while Gerald Genta, who designed the Royal Oak timepiece in the 1970s, was himself a jewellery designer.
The label’s frosted gold mini Royal Oak watch, launched in 2024, served as a precursor to the brand’s push into the category, as the piece is thin enough to stack on top of one another, like bracelets.
“I realised that there was an opportunity for us also to push forward our capabilities by blending the two worlds,” she said.
The high jewellery push comes as luxury watch labels seek to expand their ranges to appeal to younger buyers.
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