Tennis player Gaël Monfils spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Gaël Monfils, one of professional tennis's most flamboyant personalities both on and off the court, was recently photographed wearing what is arguably the most important wristwatch in Audemars Piguet's modern catalogue: the Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-Thin in stainless steel with the coveted honey dial, reference 15202ST.OO.1240ST.01.

The 15202ST is the direct spiritual successor to the original A-series Royal Oak launched in 1972, designed by Gérald Genta and introduced at Basel as a radical proposition — a luxury sports watch in steel, with an octagonal bezel secured by eight exposed hexagonal screws. The current Jumbo measures 39mm in diameter and an extraordinarily slim 8.1mm in height, housing the manually-wound Calibre 2121 — a movement jointly developed with Jaeger-LeCoultre and known in that manufacture's catalogue as the Calibre 920. With a 40-hour power reserve and a micro-rotor architecture, it remains one of the finest ultra-thin movements ever produced.

The dial variant visible here — warm champagne-gold, often referred to as 'honey' — is executed in the signature Grande Tapisserie hobnail pattern and paired with applied baton hour markers and a date window at 3 o'clock. It is one of the most desirable configurations of the reference, historically commanding a premium over the more common silver and grey dials on the secondary market. The integrated brushed and polished bracelet with its characteristic brick-link construction completes a silhouette that has remained essentially unchanged for over five decades.

Monfils, married to fellow tennis professional Elina Svitolina, has consistently demonstrated sophisticated horological awareness. His choice of the 15202ST over the more commercially visible 15500ST — the Selfwinding variant — signals genuine collector knowledge; the Jumbo's hand-wound movement and marginally thinner case are points of distinction that matter to serious enthusiasts.

On the grey market, the 15202ST with honey dial trades firmly above retail, reflecting sustained collector demand and constrained Audemars Piguet allocations. This is a reference that wears its status with discretion — exactly the kind of watch a world-class athlete with genuine horological credentials reaches for off the court.