WT_2007_01: PATEK PHILIPPE NAUTILUS

78 WatchTime February 2007 

The steel version of Ref. 5712 

in the new Nautilus collection 

features a moon-phase display, 

seconds subdial, and 

power-reserve display.

NAUTILUS: 

THE NEXT 

GENERATION 

Patek Philippe unveils new versions of its sporty old classic. 

BY NORMA BUCHANAN 

What watch are you wearing If it’s 

big, sporty, steel and costs more 

than your friends or family can 

countenance, it traces its lineage back to the 

1970s. That’s when a cadre of extraordinarily 

expensive (for the time), bulky, steel sports 

watches hit the market, forever wiping out the 

notion that luxury watches had to be dressy, refined, 

and made of precious metal. 

Patek Philippe’s Nautilus was one of these 

renegades. It surprised consumers, even 

shocked them, says Patek Philippe’s CEO Philippe 

Stern, because a sporty steel Patek was 

then seen as a contradiction in terms. 

That was then. The Nautilus, as every watch 

fan knows, is now a venerated classic, and 

holds a permanent seat on the famous-sportswatch 

dais with other models like the Audemars 

Piguet Royal Oak (which, along with 

Vacheron Constantin’s 222, was in the ‘70s 

vanguard of steel luxury sports watches), the 

Rolex Oyster, and the Omega Seamaster. 

In November, to mark the watch’s 30th 

birthday, Patek Philippe introduced a revamped 

Nautilus collection. It contains the first 

Nautilus chronograph, plus a new version of 

the “Jumbo,” the favorite of collectors. There 

are also updated renditions of the 3712, the 

moon-phase Nautilus that debuted in 2005, 

including the first rose-gold Nautilus in regular 

production. (There was at least one prior rosegold 

Nautilus; it was made in a limited series in 

1981 for the Italian market.) 

The new models measure about 1 mm 

wider than the old ones, not because the case 

has expanded but because its sides, the socalled 

“ears,” are more rounded and hence 

project outward more. In addition, all but one 

of the new models have cases composed of 

three parts instead of the traditional two. 

They’re also more expensive, with list prices 

five to 10 percent higher than for their predecessors. 

Prices range from $16,400 to 

$32,800. The latter price is for the new steel 

The original 1976 Nautilus, Ref. 3700, was 42 

mm wide and affectionately called the Jumbo. 

February 2007 WatchTime 79

PATEK PHILIPPE NAUTILUS 

quartz watches. A huge steel watch at a huge 

price was one way to capture headlines. “The 

Nautilus was a response to the quartz crisis,” 

says Philippe Stern. “Quartz watches started 

around 1970 to 1972, and we had to react. We 

started to make new types of mechanical 

watches, including [not just the Nautilus] but 

very thin automatic movements like the 240, 

which we are still using today. We wanted to 

continue to make the mechanical watch interesting 

for our customers.” 

At the same time, consumers were becoming 

more involved in sports and more inclined 

to dress down rather than up. The jogging 

craze was taking off, along with a passion for 

outdoor pastimes, and the zeitgeist was ripe 

for sports watches, the company believed. 

The watch was designed by watch-styling 

superstar Gerald Genta (who also designed 

the Royal Oak). The original model, the 3700, 

was a gigantic 42 mm wide (it was later nicknamed 

“the Jumbo”) and had a bezel the 

company describes as “an octagon with gently 

rounded corners,” designed to look like the 

porthole of a ship. (Its maritime styling and impressive 

water-resistance — to 120 meters — 

An exploded view of Ref. 5711 shows its new three-part case. Previous 

Nautili had two-part cases. 

chronograph: steel-watch sticker shock is now 

as quaint as shag haircuts and leisure suits. All 

the new models have sapphire casebacks. 

Despite the changes, though, the look is still 

unmistakably Nautilus. Tinkering with a wellestablished 

design is dangerous, says Thierry 

Stern, who is Patek’s vice president and the son 

of Philippe Stern. That’s why the company left 

the collection’s basics untouched. 

That ‘70s Watch 

In a few ways, those basics — the unusually 

shaped steel case, hefty dimensions and sporty 

styling — were a response to the era in which 

the watch was launched, Philippe Stern says. 

In 1976, the Swiss industry was in the midst 

of the quartz crisis, a debacle that would cut its 

watch-industry employment by two-thirds, to 

30,000 people; shut countless watch factories; 

and make Japanese and Hong Kong companies, 

and, for a short time, American ones, 

kings of the watch world. 

Switzerland’s mechanical-watch makers 

put up a fight against the quartz-watch onslaught. 

Their strategy was to bring out unusual-looking 

or technically advanced mechanical 

watches that could snatch some thunder from 

DATA 


Model: Reference 5711/1A 

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date 

Movement: Caliber 315 SC; automatic; center 

rotor in 21k gold; unidirectional winding; Gyro 

max balance; flat balance spring; 21,600 vph; 

diameter = 27 mm; height = 3.22 mm, 213 

components; 29 jewels; power reserve 38 to 48 

hours; Geneva Seal 

Case: Stainless steel; three-part (back, caseband, 

bezel); sapphire caseback; screw-down 

crown; water-resistant to 120 meters; bezel 

with vertical satin finish; width = 44.02 mm 

(including ears and crown); length = 38 mm 

(bezel); height = 8.3 mm 

Dial: Gradation from dark blue in the middle 

to black at the periphery; horizontal-stripe embossed 

pattern; 12 applied baton hour markers 

in 18k white gold with luminous coating; 

baton-style hour and minute hands in 18k 

white gold with luminous coating; white-gold 

seconds hand 

Bracelet and clasp: Stainless steel bracelet; 

middle links polished; outer links satin-finished; 

stainless steel fold-over clasp 

Price: $17,300 

80 WatchTime February 2007

The new Jumbo, like all the models 

in the new collection, has sapphire 

crystals on the front and back. 



“The Nautilus was a response to the quartz crisis. We started 

to make new types of mechanical watches. We wanted to 

make the mechanical watch interesting for our customers.” 

PATEK PHILIPPE CEO PHILIPPE STERN 

Thierry (left) and Philippe Stern 

A 1970s ad for the original Nautilus 

were the source of its name.) It contained the 

self-winding caliber 28-255 C, which used a 

Jaeger-LeCoultre 920 base. The dial was as 

simple as could be: the hour indices were 

straight lines that matched the baton shape of 

the hour and minute hand (there was no seconds 

hand). The face’s only embellishment 

was a date window at 3 o’clock. 

The case, a fairly slim 7.6 mm thick (the 

movement was just 3.05 mm thick), was 

made of two pieces rather than the usual 

three. The watch’s most unusual feature was 

the two ears on either side of the case. Philippe 

Stern, who helped design the watch and 

whose name appears on the patent (he became 

the company’s CEO the year after it was 

launched) says the ears, also referred to as 

“hinges,” were initially meant to be just that, 

allowing the case to be opened like a door 

from one side. That idea proved impracticable 

because it endangered the dial, and the company 

chose instead to fasten the case with 

four little screws projecting laterally into the 

ears. 

Most notable of all was the watch’s price: 

$2,350. It could have been a serious liability, 

but Patek turned it into an asset by shining a 

spotlight on it. Print advertisements declared, 

“One of the world’s costliest watches is made 

of steel.” 

At first the watch received mixed reviews, 

Philippe Stern recalls. Some saw its base-metal 

case as a scar on Patek’s golden image. “At 

the launch, some people didn’t think 

we should make a steel watch, but 

that we should only make gold,” 

Stern says. 

Others objected to its 

price. “People thought 

that if a watch were 

expensive it would 

have to be in 

gold,” he 

DATA 



Functions: Hours, minutes, sweep seconds, 

date 

Movement: Caliber 330 SC; automatic; central 

rotor in 21k gold; unidirectional winding; 

four-arm Gyromax balance with four inertia 

blocks; flat balance spring; 21,600 vph; diameter 

= 27 mm; height = 3.5 mm; 217 components; 

29 jewels; power reserve of 38 to 48 

hours; Geneva Seal 

Case: Stainless steel; two part (monocoque and 

bezel); sapphire case-back; water-resistant 

crown with split stem; bezel with vertical satin 

finish; water-resistant to 120 meters; width = 

39.80 mm (including ears and crown); length = 

33.20 mm (bezel); height = 7.85 mm 

Dial: Gradation from dark blue in the middle 

to black at the periphery; horizontal embossed 

pattern; 12 applied baton hour markers in 18k 

white gold with luminous coating; baton-style 

hour and minute hands in 18k white gold with 

luminous coating; white-gold seconds hand 

Bracelet: Stainless steel, middle links polished, 

outer links satin-finished, stainless steel fold-over 

clasp 

Price: $16,400 

says. Audemars Piguet had launched its steel 

Royal Oak four years earlier, at the then-crazy 

price of about $2,200, but the notion of a luxury 

steel watch still met with resistance from 

many consumers. 

A side view of the new 

mid-sized Nautilus, Ref. 5800, 

reveals its surprisingly thin profile 



DATA 


Model: Reference 5712/1A, 5712W, 

5712R 

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, power-reserve 

indication, date, moon-phase 

Movement: Caliber 240 PS IRM C LU; ultrathin 

automatic; integrated minirotor in 22k 

gold; unidirectional winding; Gyromax balance; 

flat balance spring; 21,600 vph; diameter = 31 

mm; height = 3.98 mm; 265 components; 29 

jewels; power reserve 38 to 48 hours; Geneva 

Seal 

Case: Stainless steel, white gold or rose gold; 

three-part (back, case-band, bezel); sapphire 

caseback; water-resistant to 60 meters; bezel 

with vertical satin finish; width (including ears 

and crown) = 44.05 mm; length = 38 mm (bezel); 

height = 8.52 mm 

Dial: Steel model: gradation from dark blue in 

middle to black at periphery. White-gold model: 

charcoal. Rose-gold model: gradation from 

dark brown in middle to black at periphery. All 

dials have horizontal-stripe embossed pattern 

and gold, applied baton hour markers and baton 

hands. 

Bracelet and clasp: Steel model has steel 

bracelet with middle links polished, outer links 

satin-finished and steel fold-over clasp. Gold 

models have alligator straps (black for the whitegold 

model and brown for the rose-gold one) 

and a three-part safety fold-over clasp in 18k 

white or rose gold. 

Price: Stainless steel: $21,900; white or rose 

gold: $27,600 

Ref. 5712 comes in a white-gold and 

a rose-gold case. 

But the watch did have its fans, those who 

saw it as refreshingly unorthodox and, at the 

same time, practical. “People had started to 

realize that times were changing and it was 

time to wear something new and different on 

their wrists,” says Philippe Stern. 

Its high level of water resistance and 

knockabout styling made it perfect for weekend 

wear, but it also fit in at the office. Its 

launch advertisement described its versatility 

thus: “Nautilus. . .will accompany you when 

you dive. Or when the occasion is formal or 

festive. Or when you set out to slay dragons 

in the boardroom.” (The dragon reference 

was an allusion to the ad’s earlier comparison 

of the watch to a sword. Both, the ad copy explained, 

“took shape between the skilled 

hands of master craftsmen.”) For those who 

found steel just too sporty for party wear, the 

watch also came in gold, gold and steel, and 

even platinum models, and styles with diamond-studded 

dials. 

By the 1980s the watch had proved its staying 

power. In 1981, Patek launched a 37.5-mm 

model, the 3800, which contained Patek’s inhouse 

caliber 330 SC, with sweep seconds 

hand, and a smaller women’s Nautilus, the 

4700, with caliber E19 C. 

In 1998, due to high demand, especially 

from Italian watch collectors, the large-size 

Nautilus was resurrected in reference 3710/1A. 

It had been discontinued eight years earlier. 

The new model contained Caliber 330 SC IZR 

and bore Roman numerals and an unusual 

power-reserve indicator (the “IZR” in the caliber 

name) on its dial. That display made use of 

a rotating hand and disk, the latter bearing a 

comet-shaped piece of metal, earning it the 

nickname “the comet.” 

In 2005, the company introduced what was 

its most complicated Nautilus up to that time, a 

model with date and moon-phase in a subdial 



at 7 o’clock, a small seconds subdial at 4 o’- 

clock, and a power reserve indicator at 11 o’- 

clock (not the comet, but a more traditionallooking 

one). Its movement, the 240 LU, was 

based on Patek’s very thin (just 2.40 mm), wellknown 

240 movement, one of the thinnest automatic 

movements ever made. This model, 

reference 3712, now discontinued, has become 

a red-hot item on the secondary market 

in large part because it was in production for 

such a short time. 

From Jumbo to Chrono 

Patek Philippe unveiled the new Nautilus collection 

in October in Geneva, at a cocktail party-cum-fashion 

show at the Palladium discotheque, 

featuring sartorial hits from (when 

else) the ‘70s. Pieces from the new collection 

began hitting stores almost immediately, although 

many potential buyers have joined 

arm-long waiting lists, just as a major new advertising 

campaign for the watch began. The 

collection consists of six pieces. 

The first is the updated Jumbo. Fans of the 

watch will be happy to see that their old favorite 

is much the same as before, except that 

it has lost its Roman numerals and comet-style 

power-reserve indicator (which, according to 

one Patek executive, proved difficult to read) 

and hence looks more like the original 3700. 

The new Jumbo, reference 5711/1A, priced at 

$17,300, lives up to its name with a case measuring 

44.02 mm from the end of the left ear 

to the tip of the crown. It’s available only in 

steel. The case is made of three parts instead 

of two, as the original was. Like all the new 

models, this one has a transparent sapphire 

back, offering a view of the automatic caliber 

315 SC. Nautilus aficionados will note some 

subtle styling changes in the 5711 common to 

all the new models. Among them is a “less aggressive” 

shape, as Thierry Stern describes it, 

thanks to the case’s more gently rounded ears. 

Also, the hands and hour markers are larger, 

and the outer tips of the latter are angled so 

that they perfectly follow the inner curve of 

the bezel. 

There’s a new mid-sized version, too, the 

5800/1. This model, which replaces the 3800, 

is 39.80 mm in diameter. Like its big brother, it 

comes only in steel. Alone among the new 

models, it retains the Nautilus’s traditional 

“monocoque,” or two-part (case and bezel) 

THREE DECADES 

OF THE NAUTILUS 

1976: The so-called “Jumbo,” 42 mm in diameter, 

reference 3700/1A. Discontinued in 

1990. 

1981: The medium-sized 3800/1A, 37.5 mm 

in diameter, with in-house Patek Caliber 

330. Discontinued in 2006. 

1998: The new Jumbo with “comet” power 

reserve indicator (called the IZR), reference 

3710/1A. Discontinued in 2006. 

2004: A white-gold version of the Jumbo, 

3711/1A. Discontinued in 2006. 

2005: The moon-phase Nautilus, 3712/1A. 

Discontinued in 2006. 

Exploded view of the new Nautilus chronograph, 

Ref. 5980 

2006: The new collection, containing six 

pieces. 


The new Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5980 

construction. Like the 3800, it contains caliber 

330 SC. Its suggested retail price is $16,400. 

The collection also contains a new moonphase 

Nautilus, reference 5712, which replaces 

the 3712. The 5712, like its predecessor, 

has a calendar, moon-phase display and 

power reserve indicator. The real news here is 

addition of fairly dressy, white-gold and rosegold 

variations, each priced at $27,600, the 

only gold models in the new Nautilus group. 

Both come only on straps: black for the whitegold 

model and brown for the rose-gold. The 

white-gold model has a lacquered charcoal 

dial; the rose-gold one a brown-charcoal dial. 

The 5712 also comes in steel with steel 

bracelet at $21,900. 

Lastly, there’s the 5980/1A, the first Nautilus 

chronograph. If the subdial at 6 o’clock 

looks familiar, it’s because Patek uses the 

same caliber, the CH 28-520 in-house column-wheel 

chrono movement, in this watch 

as it does in the Annual Calendar Chronograph 

it launched last year (reference 5960P). 

DATA 



Functions: Flyback chronograph; hours; minutes; 

seconds; date 

Movement: Caliber CH 28-520 C; automatic; 

column-wheel flyback chronograph; central rotor 

in 21k gold; unidirectional winding; oil-free ball 

bearing with zirconium balls; four-arm Gyromax 

balance with four inertia blocks; Breguet overcoil 

balance spring; 28,800 vph; diameter = 30 mm; 

height = 6.63 mm; 327 components; 35 jewels; 

power reserve 55 hours maximum; Geneva Seal 

Case: Stainless steel, three-part (back, caseband, 

bezel); sapphire caseback; screw-down 

crown; water-resistant to 120 meters; bezel 

with vertical satin finish; width = 45.60 mm 

(including ears and crown); length = 38.50 mm 

(bezel); height = 12.16 mm 

Dial: Sweep chronograph seconds hand; 

sub-dial at 6 o’clock with 60-minute counter 

(counts elapsed minutes on two concentric 

cir-cles from 0 to 30 and 30 to 60) and 12-hour 

counter. Center-mounted chrono seconds hand 

doubles as continuous seconds hand; quick action 

date at 3 o’clock (date changes in less than 1/10 

of a second); gradation from dark blue in middle 

to black at periphery; horizontal-stripe embossed 

pattern; baton-style hour and minute hands 

and nine applied baton hour markers in 18k 

white gold with luminous coating; sandblasted 

and rhodium-coated steel seconds hand; arrowshaped 

minute-counter hand with counter 

weight, tip coated with red lacquer 

Bracelet and clasp: Stainless steel; middle links 

polished; outer links satin-finished; steel foldover 

clasp 

Price: $32,800 

Unlike the 5960P, the new Nautilus has a 

standard, rather than annual, calendar, and 

no power- reserve display. It does feature the 

5960P’s most innovative feature: a chronograph 

hand that can also be used as a continuously 

running seconds hand. As with the 

5960P, the subdial at 6 o’clock is both a minutes 

and hours totalizer. The elapsed minutes 

are counted on two concentric scales from 0 

to 30 and 30 to 60, and the hours on a single 

1-to-12 scale. (For more on this movement 

and the 5980/1A, see the April 2006 issue of 

WatchTime.) The calendar, which is an improved 

version of a mechanism Patek patented 

in 1991, changes at midnight in just 1/10 

of a second. 

■

WT_2007_01: PATEK PHILIPPE NAUTILUS

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