Patek Philippe Nautilus Rose Gold Tone Black Dial 40mm Men’s Watch

The Nautilus and Aquanaut models have recently become one of the hottest tickets in the industry and are a work of art that has etched its name in our memories, like the Rolex Daytona. Now, if we were to try to delve into the extensive history of Patek Philippe, we would need a serious amount of time. There are quite large thick books on the subject and even a section is dedicated to it on the brand’s website. The brand technically first saw the light of day under the name Patek, Czapek & Cie., founded in 1839 by Antoine Norbert de Patek and François Czapek. Jean Adrien Philippe entered the equation, and soon the company changed its name to Patek, Philippe & Cie in 1851.

The array of watchmaking patents that Patek Philippe filed in its early years is staggering. Philippe was the first to patent the keyless winding and hand setting in 1845 (yes, you can thank them for the invention of the watch crown). Later came a perpetual calendar mechanism and a double chronograph in 1889 and 1902, respectively. By 1932 (as we mentioned above), the Stern family had taken over the reins of the brand, and the history of the modern Patek Philippe as we know it began to emerge.

There are currently two different Nautilus chronograph models available. The 5980 is the “standard” chronograph model, available in pink gold and two-tone pink gold and steel. The 5990, on the other hand, has both a chronograph and dual-time configuration, and is only available in steel (on a steel bracelet). What’s particularly interesting about this pair of pieces is their size. The pinnacle of the Nautilus collection, of course, comes in the form of the perpetual calendar with reference number 5740/1G. All the classic elements (its blue dial and beautifully crafted bracelet) are part of the equation, but again, its size plays a major role in its appeal. At 8.42mm thick, the perpetual calendar is just a hair – 0.12mm to be precise – thicker than the classic 5711, which doesn’t show much more than three hands and a date window. This new white gold reference has only been on the market since 2018.