Bad news for those waiting on the 10-year waiting list: The second generation Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 / 1A-010 has been discontinued.
Patek Philippe management announced that the Nautilus 5711-1A by Gérald Genta, one of the most desirable watches in the world and one of the most popular models of luxury steel sports watches with a blue dial, has removed it from the catalog despite the long-time waiting lists and the pressure of collectors and dealers. This attitude of company is not unusual; in 2018, they increased the price of steel Nautilus by 20 percent to reduce high demand. (This intimidation tactic did not work either, with customers ready to pay twice the value of the watch.)
Meanwhile, ten-years waiting list is not exaggerated; TV star and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, who is known to have a fortune out of $ 400 million, got teary-eyed when he acquired a Nautilus 5711-1A after 8 years.
Those who were most pleased with this decision were the second-hand Patek Philippe sellers, auction houses and Patek Philippe 5711 / 1A owners. Those who were upset were those who planned to buy a rare blue dial steel 5711 and authorized dealers. On the other hand, the rumor that Patek Philippe management is working on a new Nautilus design has not been confirmed yet, fortunately the gold case (5711 / 1R) version is still on sale.
On the other hand, the rumor that Patek Philippe management is working on a new Nautilus design has not been confirmed yet, fortunately the gold case (5711 / 1R) version is still on sale.
As known, the first Nautilus (Ref. 3700/1) was released in 1976 at the same price as the gold case watches, surprisingly with a retail price of $ 3,100. Case material was the same as the tanks in World War II: Alloy of nickel, chromium and molybdenum steel. The second generation Patek Philippe Ref 5711 / 1A was announced in 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Nautilus. While the Gérald Genta design was substantially preserved in this watch, the movement was changed (Caliber 324 SC) and a sapphire glass case back was added to the watch.
What makes Patek Philippe watches valuable is not just because of they are rare pieces. The effort that given for each hour is also a factor that increases the value of the hour: Company manufactures all parts of a mechanism (15 million pieces per year) in-house, and each piece is hand-polished. Therefore, it can take up to four months to produce a single dial. 150 different operations are performed for just dials. Manufacturing a Patek Philippe watch requires a total of 1,200 different actions, and each step is polished by hand. Patek Philippe management does not increase the number of employees and production in order not to decrease the quality.
Now, based on Gérald Genta‘s design,which drawn in a restaurant in a total of five minutes, the value of the blue-dial steel Nautilus has exceeded the suggested retail price of $ 30,000 last year. Pre-owned watches were already around 60 thousand dollars, now it is sold for 95 thousand dollars.
If it can also be found.
