Since its storied debut in 1976, at the vanguard of the luxury sports-watch revolution, the original three-handed Patek Philippe Nautilus has grown and evolved into an entire collection, now counting among its portfolio models with chronographs, second-time-zone displays, and a patented annual calendar. But perhaps not even the Nautilus’s legendary designer, Gérald Genta, could have foreseen the heights of complication his porthole-inspired, octagonal-bezeled timepiece would achieve at this year’s Baselworld watch fair, as Patek Philippe unveiled the first-ever Nautilus equipped with a perpetual calendar, the ultra-complex Ref. 5740/1G-001.
The Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5740/1G-001 is the brand’s thinnest perpetual calendar watch. The Patek Philippe Ref. 5740/1G-001 Nautilus becomes not only the first “grand complication” in the Nautilus range, but also, somewhat surprisingly for one of the sportiest models in the overwhelmingly elegant Patek collection, the thinnest perpetual calendar currently produced by the manufacture. The 18k white gold case measures 40 mm in diameter (44.05 mm if you include the crown) and a mere 8.42 mm thick and features satin-finished surfaces contrasting with polished chamfers. The octagonal bezel frames a blue dial adorned with the raised horizontal embossed pattern emblematic of the Nautilus collection, and here also graced with the graduating sunburst pattern that marked the Nautilus 40th anniversary editions ...