Serena Williams has been an ambassador for Audemars Piguet (AP) since 2014. Now, she has her very own watch — a culmination of the tennis star’s partnership with the brand and sports’ ongoing infiltration into luxury.
The 38mm Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph is built for sport, with a precise elapsed-time feature and feminine touches like mother-of-pearl accents, a brush of pink and ceramic features. It’s part of Audemars Piguet’s approach to collaborations, bringing in relevant cultural heavyweights to expand the 150-year-old watch brand’s horizons and introduce it to new customers.
“We collaborate with people who, in a way, offer us something more, people we can learn from. We don’t do collaborations just for the sake of it,” says Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta. “And I’m glad that this one is with a woman. We had many collaborations in the past, especially on sport watches, mainly with men. So this is a way to open the door, in line with our strategies, to a more diverse clientele and partners.”
The Serena Williams and Audemars Piguet collaboration has a 38mm Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph built for sport, with a precise elapsed-time feature and feminine touches like mother-of-pearl accents, a brush of pink and ceramic features.
Photo: Courtesy of Audemars Piguet
Like the rest of the watch industry, appealing to more women consumers is top of mind. But Resta says it’s not exclusively a women’s watch.
“I’m sure this watch will be on the wrist of men and women alike, because what is clear is that this narrative of women’s watches, men’s watches — for me, it does not exist. Even watches that have been designed with a woman in mind have been purchased and worn by men as well,” Resta says.
The executive, who joined in January 2024, spent three years at perfumery DSM-Firmenich prior to Audemars Piguet. Before that, she spent 22 years at Procter & Gamble, working across brands like Pantene. The Royal Oak series dates back to 1972, when the Swiss watchmaker first introduced an elevated stainless steel sport watch. The company is now estimated to report $3.4 billion in annual sales, according to industry estimates.
Here, Resta shares her outlook on the watch industry and why the collaboration with Williams is so significant.
Vogue: This isn’t solely a women’s watch, but it’s geared toward women. What white space do you see there in getting more women on board as customers?
We have a huge opportunity to increase our client base of women. I also think the way we are working now is much more open-minded in the sense that we don’t necessarily have a brief when we collaborate with people. The idea comes organically from conversations. And when you don’t have a brief, actually, you are much more open to ideas. So I’m really trying to push for what I call “creative audacity”.
