Gerald Genta's Royal Oak

The absolute classic that is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak was launched around the time of the quartz crisis and here was a steel watch at the same price as a gold watch with a rather controversial design. It was simply bad timing and it was in fact a failure upon launch, even to the point where some employees were rumoured to have been given one to boost numbers. But, Audemar Piguet kept investing and marketing the watch and of course it is now a modern day classic!