Royal Oak octagonal bezel with exposed screws

Probable

The octagonal bezel secured by eight hexagonal screws, with a brushed top surface and polished chamfers running along every edge of the octagon. The screws pass through the bezel and are secured from beneath, and their heads are aligned to a consistent orientation. The transitions between brushed and polished surfaces are the single most informative feature on the watch.

Part reference

Brand: Audemars Piguet
Material: Stainless steel, gold, titanium or ceramic to match the case
Introduced: 1972
Identifying marks: Brushed-to-polished transitions are crisp lines with no rounding, no overlap and no polish carried onto the brushed face. The eight screw heads are aligned consistently with clean hexagonal sockets. The chamfers run the full length of each edge at an even width and meet cleanly at each vertex.

Documented variations

Classification

FactoryDocumented as shipped from the factory for this reference and period.PeriodNot original to this watch, but correct for its production period.ServiceFitted by the manufacturer's own service network. Not a defect.AftermarketThird-party part. Affects originality, not authenticity.ModifiedGenuine parts in a configuration the factory did not sell. Affects originality and value, not authenticity.CounterfeitDeceptive reproduction intended to pass as genuine.UnknownEvidence on file does not settle the question.

Correct factory finishing
FactoryProbable
Whole production
Sharp transitions and even chamfers. This is where counterfeits fail most reliably, because the cost is in hand labour rather than in tooling — improving it is expensive for a forger in a way that copying a shape is not.
Polished after refinishing
AftermarketProbable
Whole production
A Royal Oak that has been polished by a third party loses the crisp brushed-to-polished boundaries and gains softened chamfers and rounded vertices. This is damage to originality and value, and it is NOT evidence of a counterfeit — but it also destroys the finishing as an authentication signal, which should be recorded because it weakens every inference that follows.

Documented on these references

Audemars Piguet 5402STFactory
Whole production
First-series Royal Oak. Fifty years of wear means finishing on an honest example is softened; distinguish wear from a refinish, and both from a counterfeit.
Audemars Piguet 15202STFactory
Whole production
Audemars Piguet 16202STFactory
Whole production

Provenance of this record

Sources & Evidence

Secondary sourceCollector research

Royal Oak collector research on case finishing, dial variants and bracelet construction

Collector communities and specialist dealers

Accessed: 2026-08-18

Cited for

This referenceProbable

Contemporaneous sourceOriginal catalog

Audemars Piguet catalogues and price lists

Audemars Piguet

Accessed: 2026-08-18