Timepieces are essential to racing. Seconds must be counted. Starts cannot be missed. Audemars Piguet earned its name through quiet defiance and technical mastery. The first minute-repeating wristwatch. The thinnest perpetual calendar. And, then in 1972, the Royal Oak. The stainless-steel sports watch that made luxury tough. The pinnacle of craftsmanship, engineered to endure.

By the 1980s, the Swiss manufacturer looked to a new frontier: yacht racing. Rolex and TAG Heuer charted the course; AP made headway.

In 1985, Audemars Piguet sponsored UBS Switzerland in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Skippered by Pierre Fehlmann, the crew rounded the Capes and crossed the Southern Ocean — Royal Oaks on their wrists, naturally. It was AP’s first voyage into sailing, and true to form, executed with Swiss precision. Two decades later, AP joined forces with their compatriots, Alinghi, for the 31st America’s Cup. On their first attempt in 2003, Alinghi took the Auld Mug home.

To commemorate the win, AP unveiled the Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Team Chronograph. Carbon-bodied and competition-bred. Counter hands shaped like a ship’s prow, flashes of red, the Alinghi logo at 3 o’clock. In 2009, AP partnered with L’Hydroptère, then the fastest foiling trimaran in the world. Skippered by Alain Thébault, it was a collaboration grounded in a shared pursuit of innovation, endurance, and perfection at pace.

Audemars Piguet continues to challenge convention. The Royal Oak symbolizes “power and protection.”

On the racecourse, it proved both true.