Patek Philippe celebrates 20 years of its luxury-sport Aquanaut model this year with two significant new references. One is the technically groundbreaking Ref. 5650 “Advanced Research” edition, which we covered in depth during Baselworld. The other is this week’s Watch to Watch, the Aquanaut Ref. 5168G ? the first Aquanaut in a white-gold case and, at 42 mm in diameter, the largest in the collection.
The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Ref. 5168G is the first model in the series in a 42-mm white-gold case.
The original Aquanaut, launched in 1997, was developed by Patek’s then-president Philippe Stern as a slightly more accessible version of Patek’s more famous luxury-sport watch, the Nautilus ? aimed at a younger audience and featuring a simpler three-part case (compared to the Nautilus’s elaborate two-part “porthole” construction) and a durable composite rubber strap (rather than its predecessor’s costly and difficult-to-manufacture steel bracelet). The Aquanaut’s slightly rounded octagonal bezel, with vertically satin-finished flats and chamfered, polished edges, offered an aesthetic nod to that of the Nautilus, but its bold Arabic numerals and embossed checkerboard pattern on the dials and strap, gave it a sporty identity of its own. With the Ref. 5168G, however, Patek acknowledges the shared DNA of the two models: the brand says that the 42-mm-diameter case format pays tribute to the original 1976 Nautilus ?which famo...