Here's a question for all you watch nerds: Patek Philippe — sports watch manufacturer or not? The Nautilus has been the brand's sporting flagship since the 1970's, when it was conceived by the same great mind that gave birth to the Royal Oak (Gerald Genta, of whom I have written in detail in other posts). The shape and intent of the Nautilus and the Royal Oak, when they were introduced, were virtually identical. And yet, many decades later, these two watches have diverged evolutionarily into two very different beasts.
The Royal Oak is the gold standard for modern luxury sports watches. Its massive case sizes and multi-instrumental, powerful dials indicate very clearly the direction in which the look of the sports watch, generally, has gone. But the Nautilus has stayed utterly true to its original pattern. The Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph 5980-1A boasts a minuscule (by modern sports watch standards) 40.5 mm case, and apart from the subdial at 6 o'clock, and the chrono pushers above and below the crown guard, it looks exactly the same as the original 1976 model.
A lot of this, of course, is to do with the Patek Philippe philosophy , which is all about creating timeless horological legends and releasing subtle variations on them for decades afterwards. If you're a Patek fan, you have a particular kind of luxury watch in mind. And so, if you're a Patek fan who wants a sports watch, you look for something metal, restrained, and classic: a modern version of the original Patek sports watch, in other words.
The Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph 5980-1A is done in a stainless steel case, which uses the usual combination of brushing and polishing to highlight those timeless bezel angles. The widened lines of the case, a result of the pushpieces, are well mirrored in the large 'ear' on the left of the case (which houses the date correction pusher).
The movement inside the Nautilus chrono is Patek's lovely in-house CH 28-250. The massive gold rotor (21K) is visible through the exhibition caseback. The Gyromax balance has a frequency of 28,800 vph. The chrono is a flyback, operated in the usual way with the 2 and 4 o'clock pushers.
You can't talk about the chrono function on the Nautilus 5980 without talking about dial design. Patek Philippe's focus on restraint is clearly evident in the structure of the 5980's dial, which is available in both black and blue versions. The textured depths of the classic Nautilus lines are echoed in the slender, white gold, lume-applied hour markers (hour and minute hands are also in applied white gold). But it is the chrono subdial that really stands out.
Patek elected to fit both hour and minute chrono counting onto an oversized coaxial subdial at 6 o'clock. The finishing of this large subdial adds an extra layer of interest to the dial, giving it depth in the light. But – and this is key to the design of the whole watch – this one subdial keeps the piece clutter-free and retrained, avoiding too much complexity in the way of further counters.
The twin hands on the subdial are differentiated: it's red for the minute-counter.
Crystal is sapphire glass on both front and back, and the stainless steel case is waterproof to 100 m. The watch is presented on a stainless steel bracelet with a highly-polished run of central links: these look superb in the box but can pick up fingerprint marks quickly on the wrist.
If you need a watch that will split seconds without dividing the crowd, you go for something so conservative it's practically a sports watch in disguise. You go for a Nautilus, and wear a legend that doesn't need bells and whistles to announce its presence. All it needs is the Patek seal on the clasp, and the Patek name on the dial.
You can view our latest Patek Philippe watches as well as the newest additions to our collection of luxury watches currently in stock here .
Image Credit – officialwatches.com vedere di piu watch replicas e Chopard Copacabana
