The Patek Philippe Nautilus was first released in 1976. At the time, Patek Philippe was actively searching for an inimitable and strong design as a direct response to the introduction of Audemars Piguet’s paradigm-shifting Royal Oak. Gerald Genta, who was, in fact, also the designer of the rivalling Royal Oak, employed a similar naval-inspired design language in the Nautilus, featuring a round octagonal bezel with protruding hinges on both sides of the case, which resembled the shape of a porthole found on most maritime vessels.
The introduction of the veritable Nautilus was a game changer due to the landscape of the luxury watch market at the time, which hosted a period of emphasis on horological innovation and creativity that birthed many now iconic designs we see today (Submariner, Daytona, Speedmaster, etc). In other words, watches introduced during that time were getting more and more precise, reliable, and technically efficient. The timely arrival of the Nautilus was initially deemed as an uncharacteristic departure from Patek Philippe’s classic and conservative DNA, but it eventually went on to gradually establish itself as one of the most iconic and highly coveted luxury sports watches of all time.
What we have on offer here today is the Patek Philippe Nautilus 3700 in 18-carat yellow gold, which is a later and much rarer variation of the very first Nautilus 3700/1 that was originally made in stainless steel. Mind you, vintage stainless-steel variants of the 3700/1 were only produced in very low numbers, and even fewer in gold variations, so to actually find an example like this in yellow gold and in this condition is extremely remarkable and exciting to see.
It features the same, iconic, 40mm patented case and is constructed in the form of a solid monobloc module. This essentially means the movement can only be accessed from the dial side. Of course, like most creations of the great Gerald Genta, the Nautilus sports a beautiful horizontally embossed dial which was designed to interact with different shades of lighting to create a captivating dial visual. This particular example we have here also comes on a gorgeous Gay Frères integrated bracelet in yellow gold with brushed links and polished centre links.
In terms of movement, the 3700J is powered by the ultra-thin Cal. 28-255C by Patek Philippe, which is essentially a heavily modified version of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Cal. 920. This legendary movement also powered the Nautilus’s horological siblings, including the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 5402ST and the Vacheron Constantin 222.
More than forty years since the debut of the very first Patek Philippe Nautilus, this iconic timepiece remains as desirable as ever—its enduring appeal only growing stronger with time, showing no signs of slowing down.
