It all began in 2011, when London-based jeweler Carolina Bucci spotted a men’s watch on a woman’s wrist while walking the streets of Manhattan. The watch was a Royal Oak, a design first introduced by heritage Swiss label Audemars Piguet in the Seventies. It was no longer in production, but Bucci’s husband managed to track one down and she began wearing it every day, dutifully documenting it all on Instagram. Eventually, Piguet’s CEO, François-Henry Bennahmias, took notice and asked her to create a new version for the house—this time designed for women, by a woman.
