The Patek Philippe Nautilus, one of two of the most revered masterpieces of design from the profound being that is Gérald Genta. From its conception in 1976 as the ref. 3700/1 through its various iterations, such as the 3800, the 3711, along with its more complicated variations, such as the 3712 and so on, the timepiece has now inspired generations worth of from all walks of life and every corner of the world, all the way into the 5711, which was debuted in 2006.
Following the announcement that 2021 will be the last production year of the stainless steel model Ref. 5711/1A, we’ve since held our breaths for what Patek Phillipe announce next to take up the gaping hole that will be left in the maison’s catalog books, once 2021 is come to an end. And while Patek Phillipe will keep us all in suspense as to what will replace the 5711, or if its place will be taken up by something completely new, for the time being and as an apt send off, they’ve announced the end of series, ref. 5711/1A-014 to kick the 2021 digital Watches & Wonders off.
References 5711/1A-014 & 5711/1300A-001
Keeping to the familiar formfactor of this beloved timepiece, the end of series 5711/1A is 40mm in stainless steel, with for the first time in the Nautilus family, a sunburst olive-green dial, horizontally embossed and luminescent gold applied hour markers, gold hour and minute hands.
What is amazing about the particular green applied here is that while most people who would be hard pressed to conjure up any other color on the dial of the Nautilus except for its signature blue, Patek Philippe has again showed us the versatility of Genta’s design and the maison’s depth of creativity in being able to work within set boundaries.
Alongside, Patek Philippe will also issue the Ref. 5711/1300A-001, which presents the same sunburst olive-green dial, but with its bezel decorated with 32 baguette-cut diamonds. Both watches are powered by the automatic caliber 26-330 S C and will, surely, only be made within the year 2021, at which point the 5711 will have come to its glorious end.
Tech Specs
Movement: Caliber 26-330 S C; self-winding; date in an aperture; sweep seconds; power reserve: min. 35 hours – max. 45 hours
Case & Dial: Steel; diameter (10–4 o’clock): 40mm; height: 8.3mm; water-resistant to 120m; screw-down crown; sapphire crystal case back; sunburst olive-green, horizontally embossed, gold applied hour markers with luminescent coating; white gold rounded baton-style hands with luminescent coating; 32 baguette-cut diamonds set into the bezel of ref. 5711/1300A-001
Bracelet: Steel; Nautilus fold-over clasp
Price: 5711/1A-014 – CHF 29,5000; 5711/1300A-001 – CHF 80,000
Reference 5990/1R-001 Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph
Alongside the pair of 5711, Patek Philippe has announced two other additions to the Nautilus family. The first is the ref. 5990/1R-001 Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph, in rose gold with a sunburst blue dial. The 5990 was first launched in 2014 in steel and with a black gradated dial.
Owing to the Travel Time system, the watch presents its wearer with two hour hands mounted on the center pinion. The overlying pierced hand is meant to indicate the hours of home time while the solid hand underneath is meant to show hours of local time. What really makes the multi-time zone indication on the Travel Time a no brainer when reading off the dial, is the pair of day/night indicators, clearly marked with LOCAL and HOME inscriptions. Therein, making it effortless to determine AM/PM hours no matter where you are versus the home time you are keeping track of. Add to this the flyback chronograph mechanism, and immediately what you have on hand is one of the most desirable complicated Nautilus offered by Patek Philippe.
Tech Specs
Movement: Caliber CH 28-520 C FUS; self-winding; flyback chronograph; central chronograph hand; 60-minute counter; wo time zones: local and home time indication; day/night indication for local time and home time in apertures; date coupled with local time by hand; power reserve: min. 45 hours – max. 55 hours
Case & Dial: Rose gold; diameter (10–4 o’clock): 40.5mm; height: 12.53mm; water-resistant to 120m; screw-down crown; sapphire crystal caseback; sunburst blue, gold applied hour markers with luminescent coating; local time hand: rose gold, rounded baton-style with luminescent coating; home time hand: skeletonized rose gold, rounded baton-style
Bracelet: Rose gold; Nautilus fold-over clasp
Price: CHF 90,000
Reference 7118/1450R-001 Nautilus Haute Joaillerie
Rounding up the quartet of Nautilus being launched today is a 35.2mm rose gold timepiece, fully paved with 2,553 brilliant-cut diamonds. 1,729 of which are on the bracelet alone.
And with that we come to the end of our round up of Patek Philippe’s announcements on day one of Watches and Wonders 2021. We say day one, because word on the street is that we should expect another wave of launches from the maison in the later part of the digital fair.
Tech Specs
Movement: Caliber 324 S; self-winding; sweep seconds; diameter: 27mm; height: 3.3mm; number of parts: 182; winding rotor: 21K gold central rotor; power reserve: min. 45 hours
Case & Dial: Rose gold, paved with diamonds; diameter (10–4 o’clock): 35.2mm; height: 8.65mm; water-resistant to 30m; sapphire crystal caseback; gold applied hour markers and numerals with luminescent coating; 18K gold dial plate; rose gold alpha-style hands with luminescent coating; fully paved with diamonds: 286 diamonds: ~0.92 ct. (dial), 518 diamonds: ~2.52 cts. (case), 20 diamonds: ~0.03 ct. (crown)
Bracelet: rose gold, paved with diamonds; diamond-set Nautilus fold-over clasp; 1729 diamonds: ~9.22 cts
Price: CHF 310,000
