“You killed my Royal Oak!”: Emmanuel Gueit reveals the stories behind his legendary watch designs
Andrew McUtchenCertain moments in this business feel completely surreal. Standing in Emmanuel Gueit’s Geneva studio on a scorching summer day, surrounded by the watches that define modern horology, was definitely one of them. For years, I’d kept a photo of Emmanuel on my vision board – the legendary designer behind the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, biting his thumb and looking over his shoulder in that iconic pose. I dreamed of meeting the man. I never imagined I’d end up designing a watch with him. But here we are, launching the Time+Tide x Dennison DateNight – a collaboration that feels like the natural culmination of everything I love about watches, design, and storytelling.
Emmanuel’s story begins with his father, Jean-Claude, a renowned watch designer for Piaget (among other brands) who pioneered the use of hard stones on dials in the late 1960s – a revolutionary concept at the time. Growing up watching his father work, it was perhaps inevitable that Emmanuel would follow the same path. But where his father was subtle, Emmanuel would prove to be bold.
In 1989, when his boss at Audemars Piguet asked him to imagine a Royal Oak for the younger generation, Emmanuel created something that shocked everyone: the Offshore. “Everybody thought I was crazy,” he recalls with a grin. The design was born from a very specific cultural moment: when women began wearing men’s watches, threatening to dilute what Emmanuel saw as “jewellery for men.”
The reception was brutal. Gérald Genta himself stormed into AP’s Basel booth in 1993, screaming, “You killed my Royal Oak!” Even Emmanuel’s father was diplomatically silent. But Emmanuel’s genius lies in understanding generational shifts before they happen. Today, the Offshore is considered a possibly polarising but undeniable masterpiece of sports watch design.
Emmanuel’s freelance work with Rolex on the Cellini line offers fascinating insight into how The Crown operates. Tasked with reviving the sleeping dress watch collection, he found himself in a room with twenty-odd Rolex employees, all dedicated to developing his vision. “You can ask whatever you want and you have it in a very fast way,” he explains. The result was the sublime Cellini Moonphase, a watch that deserves far more recognition than it receives.
But perhaps Emmanuel’s most intriguing project is Dennison, the revival of a British case-making company that thrived from the 1850s until the 1960s. When brands began verticalizing their manufacturing, independent case makers like Dennison disappeared. Emmanuel picked up where they left off, creating watches with vintage-inspired cushion cases and, naturally, hard stone dials.
At Time+Tide, we stock Dennison in both our Melbourne and London Watch Discovery Studios. Initially, I wondered if the 1960s aesthetic might be too niche. I was completely wrong. The combination of malachite, tiger’s eye, and aventurine dials with Swiss Ronda movements at just £600 has been nothing short of revolutionary. People don’t browse Denison – they walk in and buy immediately. “The idea is having a watch that looks like a Patek Philippe with a hardstone dial at £600,” Emmanuel explains with characteristic directness. “People are crazy for it.”
Our collaboration began with conversations about Australian opal dials – sadly, impossible to scale at this price point. But then Emmanuel showed me something that changed everything: a marquetry mother-of-pearl dial. As you move your wrist, prismatic pieces catch light differently, creating an almost holographic depth.
Our Dennison DateNight launches on a slate grey suede strap, thin in profile to maintain a slender throughline and embody Emmanuel’s current philosophy of smaller, slimmer watches. “It’s what I want to wear,” he says simply. “It’s how I feel these days.” When a designer of Emmanuel’s calibre speaks, the industry listens. After forty years of design, Emmanuel Gueit continues to anticipate what we’ll want before we know we want it. The DateNight isn’t just a watch – it’s proof that true design transcends trends, budgets, and expectations.
As a reminder, the 24-hour online order window from our web store begins on the 27th August 2025, at 14:00 CET. After this order window has closed, the only place you will be able to buy this watch will be physically in store at our Discovery Studios in London and Melbourne, and soon, New York. Hope you have a great weekend!
Andrew and the Time+Tide Team
Watch meme of the week: price check
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It’s not the luxury watches that are too expensive, it’s everything else that is priced too high, right? 😂
Wrist shot of the week: his & her Selten Juis for Alicia Keys & Swizz Beatz
Jackie… Consider us very jealous. We recently covered the launch of Watch Ho & Co.’s 2nd anniversary limited edition launch: the Watch Ho & Co. x Selten Jui 聚 Limited Edition. Watch enthusiasts within the niche bubble certainly took notice of the CNC-engraved Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial and its colourful iridescence – especially with its surprisingly affordable price tag of US$1,099. It’s fair to say, however, that launches from smaller brands like this do not land on the radar of your typical Rolex, Richard Mille and Patek-touting celebrities. But music industry legends Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys are known for being keenly tuned in to what the micros and indies are up to.
“Swizz Beatz is a passionate watch collector with a great fondness for independents,” Jackie Ho, co-founder of Watch Ho & Co. explains. “We met in 2023 in Hong Kong at a De Bethune event, and we kept in touch over Instagram. He saw our recent 2-year anniversary club watch and was attracted by the engraved natural black Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial. He was keen to support and get a ‘His & Hers’, so I jumped on the next flight to Tokyo and personally delivered the watches to him and Alicia Keys at their hotel. I was then invited to Alicia’s concert the same evening and partied the night away with them afterwards. An unforgettable and surreal 48 hours! Still pinching myself!”
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Further cementing Swizz and Alicia’s eye for lesser-known watch brands with more affordable offerings, just the night prior, Keys was seen performing wearing a Dennison ALD. We love to see it.
Time+Tide Shop pick of the week: Time+Tide x Dennison DateNight (obviously)
If it has yet to be made abundantly clear, this is our new Time+Tide x Dennison DateNight watch! For Dennison, the DateNight marks two important premieres: its first-ever mother-of-pearl dial, and its first use of marquetry. From the beautiful mind of fabled designer Emmanuel Gueit comes a design that sees rectangular filaments of the Australian mother of pearl hand-inlaid onto the dial. This creates an irregular, iridescent surface that shimmers and shifts with every movement. For Time+Tide, this watch represents a debut in dress watch territory… And the name says it all. Because, let’s be honest: date night is the only time most of us reach for a dress watch.
The Time+Tide x Dennison DateNight will only be globally available for a 24-hour online order window from our web store that begins on the 27th August 2025, at 14:00 CET. The first 200 orders placed will be shipped within 7-14 days, with the remaining orders arriving in early November. After this order window has closed, the only place you will be able to buy this watch will be physically in store at our Discovery Studios in London and Melbourne, and soon, New York. Price: £745/US$995/€895/A$1,450 (suede strap only)
Our favourite Time+Tide coverage of the week
We chat with Franck Muller CEO Nicholas Rudaz about playful design and haute horlogerie
Nicholas Rudaz has a deeper connection to Australia than most CEOs of watch brands. Born in Switzerland but raised in England, Rudaz moved to Sydney in the 90s, finding a job at the iconic Sydney Opera House as a barman – the start of a long and fruitful career in hospitality, luxury and eventually fine watchmaking. So when we heard that he was coming back to his old stomping grounds – and Jamie’s hometown – to open Franck Muller’s new Sydney boutique, we knew he’d stand half a chance of having a great conversation with him. Check out Jamie’s interview with Rudaz above.
Family ties: the Time+Tide Team shares the watches they own that mean the most to them
Born to tell the time, but have become so much more, mechanical (or non-smart) wristwatches continue to ultimately thrive due to the meaning we associate with them – and often, the strongest meaning stems from family. So, the Time+Tide team came together to share the watches in their collections with strong family ties and the stories behind their significance. Read their picks here.
Does the Grand Seiko SLGC009 Tokyo Lion Tentagraph make you roar or meow?
Zach may be billed as our resident Grand Seiko fanboy, but he has mixed feelings about this one. That being said, arguably, this is why the new Grand Seiko SLGC009 Tokyo Lion Tentagraph was one of the most interesting Grand Seiko launches at Watches and Wonders. His very small, very subjective criticism you will discover in this hands-on video review, but you will also discover some subtle yet super cool elements and evolutions that showcase the allure of this model. Check out his full thoughts in the video above.