MAXIM.COM SEP/OCT 2019 15Patek now makes many different versions of the Nautilus, which
was given a relaunch of sorts for its 40th anniversary, in rose gold,
white gold, and stainless steel, some equipped with annual calendar
and other complications. But the simplest references harking back to
the rather minimal original are the most coveted.
“ The Nautilus simply didn’t sell that well when it was first re-
leased in 1976,” David Lee, General Manager of Watches at Stock X,
the live bid/ask luxury marketplace backed by the likes of Mark Wahl-
berg where collectors can build portfolios of iconic timepieces, tells
Maxim. “For one thing, at 42mm the original Nautilus was simply
considered too big. Over the course of the next three decades, Patek
Philippe released a number of different references and sizes, but the
Nautilus was still simply Patek Philippe’s entry level timepiece, a way
to enter the Patek universe for a fairly affordable price.”
Flash forward to 2006, Lee says, and the introduction of the 5711.
“Limited supply of new watches and a growing desire for high-end
luxury sport models started pushing prices in the pre-owned market
to trade 20-25% over retail. Secondary market prices continued to
trickle upwards. But even up to 2015, you could still find examples for
under $40,000 in the pre-owned market.” In the beginning of 2018
however, “Patek seemed to address the rising prices of the Nautilus
and raised the retail price from $17,000 to $29,800. However, instead
of dampening demand, the reverse happened, with secondary market
prices doubling from around $40,000 in late 2017 to the current
$80,000 range.” Quite a jump.
“While it now costs five digits more to buy a steel, time-only Nau-
tilus than a gold annual calendar, the market shows little signs of
slowing down,” Lee notes. “With continued limited supply and popu-
larity amongst collectors and celebrities growing steadily, the market
marches higher and higher.” In other words, if you can get your hands
on one—and it’s a big ‘if ’—you’d be well advised to hold onto it.
Lee himself owns a white-dial steel Nautilus Ref. 5711/1A that
took him over two and a half years to track down. “I promised my
Patek dealer that I wouldn’t flip the watch, and despite the fact that I
could now get two or three time what I paid, after wearing it for just
over a year the thought of ever selling it has forever left my mind.”
Ask him to tell you exactly what he loves about it though and it’s
difficult to put into words. The appeal of the Nautilus remains some-
what esoteric, which in itself is a large part of the draw. “Why is the
Nautilus so popular?” Thierry Stern mused to the Times. “Of course I
am happy about it, but honestly [even] I don’t know the answer”.Patek Philippe was founded in Geneva in 1839. It is by no means the
world’s oldest watchmaker, but in the past 180 years it has certainly
become the most prestigious. The brand has created some of the
costliest and most complicated timepieces on the planet, and while
its overall design ethos can be described as staunchly traditional,
with the basic outlines of its most popular pieces having changed lit-
tle over the last several decades, one of its most atypical, and origi-
nally unloved, designs has suddenly become its most popular.
The Nautilus, designed by horological legend Gérald Genta,
creator of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak among others, and intro-
duced in 1976, was made to resemble a ship’s porthole with its round-
ed octagonal bezel, and was Patek ’s attempt at a contemporary high-
end sports watch in lowly stainless steel at a time when gold watches
were all the rage. Sized at a generous 42mm it sported a grooved
deep blue dial. As WatchTime reports, the conservative company was
not without reservations about it. Demand for the watch was slow at
first, the magazine notes, and its popularity has waxed and wanedover the years along with changing tastes, with gold versions intro-
duced to up the luxe factor. In the past few years however stainless
steel Nautilus models, in particular the reference 5711, have sk yrock-
eted in popularity.
Where collectors have long seen the appeal of the Nautilus, it
took sightings of the watch on the wrists of celebs like Jay-Z, Jason
Statham and Brad Pitt to really push it into the stratosphere. Most
recently, cult Off-White and Louis Vuitton menswear designer Virgil
Abloh was spotted sporting a custom blacked-out version, giving it
instant street cred. Earlier this year the New York Times reported that
the waiting list for the most popular model, the black-blue dial Ref.
5711 in stainless steel, is now said to be eight years long. It has become
even harder to come by than the iconic Rolex Daytona. And Patek,
being Patek, has no plans to increase production.
“We don’t discuss production quantities, but clearly we don’t
make enough Ref. 5711s,” Patek President Thierry Stern told the pa-
per. “ Today we are meeting maybe ten per cent of the demand, and it
is going to stay that way. For us, this is not a race to make more mon-
ey. It is a race for beauty, for the long term.” British GQ adds that those
who want to buy one are “carefully vetted and must have a longstand-
ing relationship with the company. They also have to somehow prove
that they will actually wear the watch, rather than resell it at a vast
profit.”“TODAY WE ARE MEETING MAYBE
TEN PER CENT OF THE DEMAND, AND IT
IS GOING TO STAY THAT WAY.”
Above: Patek Philippe President Thierry Stern.
Bottom: Off-White designer Virgil Abloh and his custom NautilusJO
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