Patek Philippe Nautilus: there are objects destined to stand the test of time. There are many examples, but in many cases they are mere nostalgia operations. They often betray a lack of courage. They show a lack of willingness to dare new creative paths to dredge up something that worked in the past but with no guarantee that it will find the same success in the present.
Icons of time
Then there are the exceptions. And here the reasoning takes a quantum leap. It is a category to which it is very difficult to gain access also because you have to pass a very tough selection. Age does not count. It is not like wine that improves with age. And there are no pacts of any kind as imagined by Oscar Wilde in The Portrait of Dorian Gray. In this case it is a matter of intuition.
A creative spark from which something takes shape that can establish a dialogue, and above all a bond, that is perpetuated from generation to generation without interruption. This is how icons are born, a category to which immortal pieces such as Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu’s Parentesi, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand’s LC4, or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair belong. In watchmaking, such examples can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Patek Philippe Nautilus
Among them a place of honour surely belongs to the Nautilus. A watch whose success in some way has to do with the world of the sea. The name itself underlines this. In this case, it is a quotation inspired by the imaginary submarine from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Yes, imagination. This was the spring that allowed Gerald Genta, just like Jules Verne in the famous novel, to give form and substance first to a watch, and then to a collection that has become a true cult object. The brilliant Swiss designer’s intuition was to conceive the watch case by drawing inspiration from the shape of ships’ portholes. (Here all our posts about Patek Philippe)
A simple idea
A simple but at the same time courageous idea, especially considering that the first model was launched by Patek Philippe in 1976, i.e. in the darkest period of Swiss watchmaking struggling with the side effects generated by the advent of quartz. And yet, the Nautilus managed to shatter the idea that a watch with a sporty look, and in steel to boot, could not become part of the watchmaking aristocracy. From the debut of the Nautilus 3700 to the present day, 46 years have passed. A time span that has seen the collection grow, evolve, adopt ever more sophisticated complications and use ever more refined materials. A history full of chapters to which a new one has recently been added.
Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5811/1G-001
Patek Philippe has recently presented the Nautilus Ref. 5811/1G-001. A distinguishing feature of the new reference is the 41 mm diameter of the case, which is slightly larger than the 40 mm diameter of the Ref. 5711 launched in 2006 for the 30th anniversary of the Nautilus and discontinued in 2021. The new Nautilus is dressed in white gold, another distinguishing feature, while the blue sunray dial shaded in black is also distinguished by several technical and aesthetic features.
Water-resistant to 120 m and with a slightly enlarged diameter to 41 mm, the watch reflects its affinity with the original Nautilus of 1976 with a two-part case. It also features several subtle technical refinements and patented innovations: a secured fold-over clasp, a new lockable adjustment system, and a new pull-out piece lever system that replaces the split stem.The automatic winding Calibre 26- 330 S C, visible through the transparent sapphire crystal caseback, is equipped with a ‘seconds stop’ system that guarantees accurate timekeeping to the second.
Matteo Zaccagnino
