HOT METAL

The only steel watch to have this year is a cult model from the 1970s. NICK FOULKES revisits three modern classics, originally designed by Gerald Genta

This year, for the first time in almost a quarter century, three of the greatest classic steel watches of the 1970s, designed by one man—Gerald Genta—but brought out by different watch marques, will all be available as current production models.

The three watches are the Royal Oak, by Audemars Piguet, the Nautilus, by Patek Philippe, and the International Watch Company's Ingenieur SL. When they were first produced, these watches were truly ahead of their time, and their influence stretches well beyond the turbulent watchmaking decade of their debuts.

The Royal Oak, launched in 1972, was the watch that started it all. The world's first luxury steel sports watch, a term that had until then been an oxymoron, the Royal Oak challenged accepted values of luxury-watch-making. Its design was arresting: in a world of round, tonneau, square, or rectangular watches, the Royal Oak was octagonal; and at a time when luxury-watch-makers did their best to hide such mundane components as screws, the Royal Oak's bezel flaunted eight screwheads. With a case diameter of four centimeters and a case depth of only a few millimeters, it was thin but big. And then there was the fact that it was made of steel but, at 3,500 Swiss francs, cost a good deal more than many gold watches.

"It was a sort of provocative situation. When we introduced a steel watch at 3,500 Swiss francs, people were thinking we were completely crazy," recalls GeorgesHenri Meylan, C.E.O. of Audemars Piguet. At the time, even A.P. itself seemed uncertain about the future of the Royal Oak. "The first idea was to make a limited edition of 1,000."

Happily, that notion of a limited series evaporated, and now the Royal Oak, in various guises, accounts for more than 50 percent of Audemars Piguet's annual production. Over the years the Royal Oak has adapted to changing times. Following its debut in steel, it has become available in more conventional luxury metals such as gold and platinum, as well as in exotic materials such as tantalum and in high-tech alloys. The Offshore model of the mid-90s was one of the first truly oversize watches and has since appeared in numerous limited and special editions, to honor everything from the cinematic oeuvre of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the racing prowess of Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya. This year the Royal Oak receives a new automatic movement, the 3120, visible through a sapphire case back, while a new Offshore, the Polaris, with a turning inner flange and countdown yachting timer, will be launched to celebrate Audemars Piguet's association with Switzerland's Team Alinghi in the America's Cup.

The appearance and pricing of the Royal Oak may have caused a stir in Switzerland in the early 70s, but it went on to become a cult timepiece, its popularity increasing steadily ever since. Emboldened by this success, Genta went on to design a luxury steel watch for the conservative watch house Patek Philippe. The Nautilus commenced production in 1976 and, if anything, was even more challenging in its appearance. The look, while far from a Royal Oak imitation, was identifiable as the work of the same designer. It evoked the feel of a ship's porthole—entirely appropriate given the Nautilus's water resistance to 120 meters—and featured a unique case with a rubber gasket sandwiched between its two halves, locked into position by a twin-hinge-style mechanism. The Nautilus was entirely sui generis, and as it heads for its 30th birthday there is still nothing quite like it. Like the Royal Oak, the Nautilus is a cult watch, and just as in recent years the Royal Oak was reworked to create the Offshore, so Patek Philippe launched a contemporary re-interpretation of the Nautilus, the Aquanaut, in 1997.

However, while Audemars Piguet has been quite daring with the Royal Oak—filling its distinctive octagonal case with calendars, chronographs, multiple time zones, and, this year, a countdown yachting timer—Patek has been characteristically restrained in its treatment of the Nautilus case, occasionally supplementing the basic functions with a date indicator or a power reserve. Which is why this year's new Nautilus, the reference 3712/1A with a 43.25-mm. case, is such an exciting departure. It includes a power reserve, date indicator, moon-phase indicator, and small seconds. The movement is an established Patek Philippe classic, the 240 PS IRM CLU, which appears in the reference 5054 and the 5055, but it takes on new significance with its debut in Genta's classic case design, mixing Patek elegance with a purposeful ruggedness. The result is a stunning watch.

At about the same time the Nautilus appeared in Geneva, Genta's other cult watch, the "Jumbo" Ingenieur, was emerging from the International Watch Company's factory in Schaffhausen, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Unlike the Nautilus or the Royal Oak, the Ingenieur was not a new watch; it had been around for 20 years. Created by the austere genius Albert Pellaton,

I.W.C.'s renowned postwar technical director and head of design, the Ingenieur was a functional "tool" watch, its movement protected by a core of soft iron that resisted strong magnetic fields. It was marketed as the "ideal watch for Engineers, Technicians, Chemists, Industrial Research Workers, Pilots, Physicians."

By the mid-70s it was looking a little dated, so Genta worked his magic on its aesthetics, creating a significantly different watch: the Jumbo Ingenieur SL, powered by I.W.C.'s caliber 8541 or, in keeping with the spirit of the times, a quartz movement. The Jumbo Ingenieur is now regarded as one of the great watches of the v late 20th century, a status reflected in the prices paid by collectors. But at the time it was not a huge success. Its production run ended only a few years after its debut, and in 1982 a smaller, slimmer version of the Ingenieur was produced in response to the then prevailing trend for slim, elegant watches. Moreover, in a move that did not appeal to I.W.C. purists, the movement was replaced with a base caliber from the Swiss firm ETA, modified by I.W.C.

Now, under Georges Kern, its C.E.O. since 2002, I.W.C. is bringing back the Jumbo Ingenieur with a new movement, the caliber 80110, using Pellaton winding and shock-absorbing systems with anti-magnetic resistance of up to 80,000 amperes per meter. Proof of the brilliance of Genta's design is that the external appearance of the 2005 vintage differs from its predecessor of almost 30 years ago only in the smallest details: a millimeter or so in case size, a barely perceptible change in the way the links of the steel bracelet are finished, a subtle change in dial design.

"We believe there is big potential for us to relaunch this watch," says Kern, who ranks it alongside such classic timepieces as the Royal Oak, the Rolex Oyster, the JaegerLeCoultre Reverso, and the Cartier Tank. As Kern sees it, while the Ingenieur might have been ahead of its time in the mid-70s, it now chimes perfectly with prevailing values. "For us it is big, it's a kind of straightforward design, and it has content. All this corresponds to our society of today. People like big watches designed in a straightforward way; they like real watches, not fake watches, and all this is embodied in the Ingenieur."

Indeed, this quality of contemporaneity unites all three of these classic luxury steel watches. A generation after they were launched, they still look as striking and modern as they did in the 1970s. As Audemars Piguet's Meylan says, they are appealing to collectors who were not even bom at the time. "You have a new generation discovering the Royal Oak, and they think that it is a new product, and when I say it is older than they are, they are surprised."

MORE GREAT STEEL WATCHES

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms In the early 1950s a newly formed French amphibious fighting unit, Les Nageurs de Combat, needed a diving watch. Blancpain was approached to create one fit for these daring submariners, and Fifty Fathoms made its debut in 1953. Revived in the mid-1990s, it is today a chic yet rugged timepiece which functions up to 300 meters beneath the waves.

Breitling Chronomat The Chronomat name appeared in 1942 with the launch of the first Breitling with a circular slide rule (Chrono-mathematical). Then, in 1969, the name took on another meaning with the first selfwinding movement (Chrono-automatic). In 1984 a model was launched that became the brand's international best-seller for 20 years. It was recently redesigned, resulting in today's Chronomat Evolution.

Cartier Santos In 1904, Cartier designed a watch for the aviator Alberto Santos Dumont, one that he could consult _while operating his aircraft controls. The result was one of the earliest strap watches. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Santos was reworked in steel and gold, and became the "It watch" of the Cote d'Azur. Last year's oversize Santos, launched to celebrate the centennial of the original, has become a badge of 21st-century hedonism.

Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk A classic diving C watch popular during the 1960s, the Sea FHawk was revived , --x-.. in 2002 and is one of the most intriguing diving watches / r \ available today. It is easily identified by the screw-down \ crown situated between the fourand five-o'clock markings, _ and by the protective shoulders that swell in a seemingly organic fashion from the case.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso The flip-over Reverso made its debut on the polo fields of the Raj after World War I, a response to players who wanted to stop the impact of balls, sticks, and hooves on their watch glasses. Sapphire crystal has made watch glass much tougher than it once was, but the Reverso remains an enduring classic.

Omega Speedmaster This is the watch that man wore to the moon in 1969—a legend in its own launch time.

Panerai Luminor Before it became a musthave for 21st-century playboys, the oversize Panerai was the watch worn by Italian submariners during WW.II. Today, the watch that most readily captures the spirit of Panerai is the Luminor, from the historic collection.

Rolex Oyster In 1926 Rolex launched the screw-down crown, a highly important step toward making watches waterresistant. The following year a young woman named Mercedes Gleitze strapped on the new Rolex Oyster and swam the English Channel. The enduring popularity of the Oyster and the practicality of its design are testimony to the farsightedness of Rolex and its founder, Hans Wilsdorf.

Vacheron Constantin Overseas In 1975, Vacheron Constantin launched the 222, its riposte to the Royal Oak. However, it was not until the introduction of the Overseas, in 1996, that Vacheron found a steel sports watch that the company was comfortable with. Now the Overseas, subtly remodeled last year, is a modern classic.