Editorial
The 14790 is the second-generation Royal Oak, produced 1992 through 2003, at a 36mm case size that the modern market briefly forgot about and then dramatically remembered. It's the 'small Royal Oak' that runs around half the cost of a 15202 'Jumbo' but has more original Genta-designed character than any post-2000 Royal Oak.
The original Royal Oak (5402, 1972) was a 39mm case; the 'medium' Royal Oak followed at 36mm. The 14790 launched in 1992 with the caliber 2125 (a JLC-derived automatic with a date complication), replacing the earlier 4100. Production ran through 2003 when the 15300 took over.
Variants exist in steel, two-tone, full-gold, and a Tantalum 'Royal Oak 25th anniversary' commemorative.
Common things to check: dial originality (the petite tapisserie pattern is hand-applied and not field-replicable, service-replacement dials are visible under magnification); bracelet (the integrated bracelet means a wrong-size or wrong-generation bracelet is a value disaster, verify the end-link generation matches the case era); case finishing (the polished/brushed alternation on the Royal Oak case profile is hand-applied; over-restored examples lose the finish definition that makes the watch); papers (AP service papers are the gold standard for provenance; a 14790 without papers should be priced 15-25% below a papered equivalent).
