They Say Old is Gold but is it always ?
In the late 60’s and early 70’s the Swiss watch industry was about to enter dangerously choppy waters. The development of the more accurate battery powered quartz movement in japan heavily undermined the role of the mechanical watch. Combined with Seiko’s ability to mass produce these movements and reduce unit cost, the mechanical watch was almost carrying its belongings out of Switzerland in cardboard box. But instead, this is when the era of the stainless steel luxury sports watch began, and three brands in particular helped kick it off.
In 1972 after supposedly one night of designing, probably with a glass of whiskey or three, Gerald Genta and Audemars Piguet presented the very first Royal Oak: ref. 5402. This was the beginning of what we now know as the luxury sports watch. In 1976, four years later after having his Nautilus napkin design snubbed by Piaget, Genta’s first Nautilus was released by Patek Philippe: ref. 3700. It wasn't until 1977 when the Vacheron Constantin 222 became available, designed this time by German watch designer Jörg Hysek who wanted a slice of the Jumbo sports pie. These three watches became great icons and helped to create what we know today as the holy trinity.
They all housed the same movement, or their own variations of it. The revolutionary calibre-920 by Jaeger LeCoultre, the worlds thinnest self winding date driving movement ever. As thin as it was, it was also 29 mm wide and commanded larger case sizes, known as ‘Jumbo’s’.
The Royal Oak 5402 came in at 39 mm and housed calibre 2121, Audemars Piguet’s version of the JLC 920. The Nautilus 3700 was a whopping 42 mm, using calibre 28-255C, Patek Philippe’s version, and the 222 came in at a somewhat modest 37 mm compared to the other two. It used the calibre-1120, Vacheron Constantin’s version of the JLC movement. In all intents and purposes however, they were the same movements. They all had the same 40 hour power reserves and lacked a central sweeping seconds hand, an iconic feature of any Jumbo.