Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm Gold Case

Rubber B produces custom rubber watch bands for timepieces from a variety of leading global watchmakers, including Rolex, Tudor, and Panerai, as well as several others. Our complete product catalog features straps in a plethora of different colors, textures, and styles, and each one of our watch bands is made solely from 100% vulcanized rubber.

One of the most notable watches that Audemars Piguet has ever produced, the Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm gold case is a treasured part of the Royal Oak family of watches that Audemars Piguet has become so well-known for crafting since the 1970s. But what makes the Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm gold case so special?

In order to fully investigate the unique charm of the Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm gold case, we will take a closer look at the history of Audemars Piguet, the history of the Royal Oak line of watches, and then learn more about the Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm gold case specifically

What Is The History of Audemars Piguet?

One of the most storied of the Swiss watchmakers, Audemars Piguet was founded in Switzerland in 1875 by two esteemed Swiss watchmakers, Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet. Audemars Piguet is notable, as a company, for several different reasons.

First and foremost among them is the fact that the company is one of the oldest legacy brands in watchmaking, even pre-dating Rolex by several decades. The other is that, unlike a lot of other watchmaking companies that have now become well-known, Audemars Piguet is one of the few companies that is still owned by the descendants of the founding families today. Several members of the Audemars family are still active in the company’s operations and serve as board members.

What Do You Need to Know About the Royal Oak Line of Watches?

The Royal Oak line of watches is the most famous of the timepieces that Audemars Piguet has produced over the years, and is well-known for being in the watch collections of many celebrities, such as John Mayer and Steph Curry. The Royal Oak, however, did not always enjoy the esteemed status that it has now.

In the early 1970s, Swiss watch manufacturers were trying to work through what is now referred to as the “quartz crisis.” Asian watches, primarily manufactured in Japan, were being produced using quartz, which was much cheaper to source and implements into watches. As such, luxury watches with complex mechanical parts, which the Swiss were known the world over for, were falling out of popular style.

Instead of continuing to keep crafting the same kinds of watches as they previously had, Audemars Piguet hired Gerald Genta, a well-known watch designer who had done work with other luxury brands, to design a new piece for them. Genta was well-known for his audacious design work, and even though consumers took a while to warm up the boxy, industrial-looking Royal Oak, the watch would eventually be credited with saving the company financially and bringing it a new level of relevance over the ensuing decades.

What Makes the Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm Gold Case Special?

Much like the original Royal Oak re-envisioned the way we think about sports watches, as no one would have dared to think about producing a sports watch in steel at that time, the Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm gold case made consumers reconsider what a chronograph could, and could not, be.

The Royal Oak Chronograph 41mm gold case was initially conceived by Emmanuel Gueit, who was working at the time for Jacqueline Dimier, the woman who served as Genta’s direct successor as the head of the design department at Audemars Piguet. Gueit’s directive was simple – “make a Royal Oak for young people,” as the CEO of the company at the time, Stephen Urquhart, was noted as having told him.

Gueit’s response to this request was to, in some ways, do what Genta himself had done several decades before and think significantly outside of the box, resulting in an oversized, waterproof chronograph. Chronographs were not thought of as sports watches at this time, so attempting to craft something like this was met with some resistance within the company.

Attempting to complete the project would also prove a challenge – so much so, in fact, that the project was affectionately given the nickname “The Beast” around the halls of Audemars Piguet. This was, largely, due to Gueit’s firm commitment to the realization of his vision, no matter how abstract it may have seemed to his co-workers at the time.

A lot of the challenges faced on the project had to do with the implementation of the materials that Gueit wanted to use – particularly, silicon for the pushers and crowns, which was not commonly done at the time and considered a very odd design choice. The company also did not produce a movement that was capable of fitting inside the case – in fact, no company did at that time. Placing a JLC movement in an anti-magnetic ring was the closest thing they could come up with that mirrored Guiet’s vision.

Today, the watch, much like the original that inspired it, has become one of Audemars Piguet’s most popular timepieces.

Rubber B has created a diversity of straps for Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 41mm on Alligator – Classic Series. Made of Vulcanized 100% Rubber, engineered to fit Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (41mm leather strap models only). This rubber strap is perfectly calibrated to mount the Rose Gold Royal Oak and AP Deployant buckle*. “Blocked Integration” engineering and titanium bridge inserts provide a flawless, secure, and flush mount to the AP watch case.  Below you can view the 6 diverse offered colors for this particular timepiece. 

Rubber B Also created straps for Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 41mm on Metal Bracelet – Velcro Series. Made of Vulcanized 100% Rubber, engineered to fit Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (models that come originally on a gold or steel bracelet ONLY). Below you can view the 2 diverse offered colors for this particular timepiece. 

Are You in Need of a Custom Rubber Watch Band For Your Luxury Watch? Visit Rubber B Today

No fillers or additives are used in Rubber B’s watch straps, and each strap is non-toxic and non-allergenic, as well as being FDA and BVGG compliant. Rubber B also offers both domestic and international shipping to its clients based on their current location.

If you would like to learn more about our complete list of products, shipping policies, pricing, or have questions about our custom rubber watch straps, please visit the Rubber B website today for more information. One of our team members will be happy to answer your inquiry in a timely manner.

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