Dr. N.
It is one of the most iconic watches of our time. The Patek Philippe Nautilus, with its unique combination of refinement and sportiness, has continued, for over forty years, to fascinate generations of enthusiasts. This watch, designed for Patek Philippe da Gerald genta, has a fascinating history.
Patek Philippe Nautilus: the birth of a legend
The origins of the Patek Philippe Nautilus should be sought in the "quartz crisis" of the seventies. At that time, the Swiss watch industry was in danger of extinction due to competition from quartz movements. The latter are enormously more accurate and cheaper than mechanical ones. Ironically, it was the Swiss watch industry itself that developed the first quartz movements in the XNUMXs. But we will talk about this in another article ...
Be that as it may, in the seventies theSwiss mechanical watch it suffers from competition from the Japanese quartz watch. Large companies are downsized or even closed, and even a legendary house like Patek Philippe suffers from the crisis.
Gerald Genta, in this period, is a designer of watches at the top of his creative phase. He has already designed the Royal Oak - even for Audemars Piguet this story it deserves to be told… - and, almost by chance, its destinies intersect with those of the company that has created the most refined and complicated watches ever.
The style
According to what Genta himself says, in 1976, during a lunch, he met the managers of Patek Philippe. He sits down at their table, and drawing with a pencil on the restaurant napkin, he draws the lines of what would become the Nautilus. The inspiration for the shape of the watch comes from the portholes of the luxurious liners: the ring with eight arc segments recalls the frame, while the closing hinges are recalled by the side shoulders.
The name of the watch, Nautilus, is a reference to Captain Nemo's submarine in Verne's novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”: this underlines the ability of this Patek Philippe to challenge the ocean depths. The Patek Philippe Nautilus in fact it has an exceptional water resistance for its time: 120 meters. An extraordinary result for such a thin and elegant watch, obtained thanks to the monobloc construction and the very tight manufacturing tolerances.
The technique
Il Patek Philippe Nautilus it is able to withstand the pressure of water thanks to a constructive secret: the watch case is a monobloc in high quality steel. The ring presses against the case and these two elements, like the two valves of a shell, tighten the sealing gasket. The stronger the water pressure, the more waterproof the watch becomes. It is an intelligent and refined method of making an elegant watch underwater, without resorting to thick cases and screw-down casebacks as happens in a sportsman such as the Rolex Submariner.
Even the mechanics, as befits a true Patek Philippe, is a masterpiece of refinement. To ensure the correct functioning of the small rotor which feeds the automatic movement of the Nautilus, Patek Philippe chooses to make the rotating mass in gold, a metal with a higher density than steel.
The first luxury sports watch, always designed by Gerald Genta, is the Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet. Compared to this, the Patek Philippe Nautilus presents an even more elegant and refined style. Without taking anything away fromAudemars, the ring with eight arc segments, the rounded shapes of the side shoulders, the splendid shiny-satin contrast of the bracelet links of the Nautilus, are unmatched.
Contact Dr. N at dr.n@chronosect.com
