Patek Philippe approached Gérald Genta in late 1974, two years after his Royal Oak had reset the luxury-sport category for Audemars Piguet, and asked him to do the same for Patek. Genta, the story goes, sketched the watch on a napkin during dinner at the 1974 Basel Fair: a rounded-octagon bezel echoing a ship's porthole, a steel case, an integrated bracelet, and a textured horizontal-line dial. Patek took two years to engineer it; the result, ref. 3700/1A 'Jumbo', launched at Basel 1976 in stainless steel at 42mm, radically large for a Patek of the period, and at a price that exceeded most yellow-gold dress Pateks. The marketing tagline, by Don Draper-era ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, was simply: "One of the world's costliest watches is made of steel."
The 3700/1A was followed in 1981 by the 3800 (a 37.5mm mid-size variant), in 1998 by the 3710 (with power-reserve indicator), and in 2006 by the most consequential reference: 5711/1A. The 5711 was a gentle refresh of the 3700, 40mm rather than 42, slightly tightened proportions, modern Cal. 324 movement, but it landed at the exact moment the global luxury-sport market began its 15-year demand explosion. Through the 2010s the 5711 became the canonical 'allocation-only' steel sport watch: secondary trades climbed from 1.2x retail in 2014 to roughly 4x retail by 2021.
"Genta's brief was simple: do for Patek what you did for AP. The fact that it took two years to engineer is itself the story of Patek's culture."- Patek Philippe historical commentary
Patek's response was unusual. CEO Thierry Stern announced in early 2021 that the 5711 would be discontinued. Within months Patek released a Tiffany-blue dial 5711 in collaboration with Tiffany & Co. (limited to 170 pieces), one of which sold at Phillips New York in December 2021 for $6,503,500, the highest-ever price for a Nautilus, and one of the highest for any modern wristwatch. Stern also released a green-dial 5711/1A in 2021 as a final 'farewell' run.
Later in 2021 Patek introduced the 5811/1G in white gold, 41mm, with a slightly refined case profile. The 5811 is the modern flagship Nautilus and is being introduced gradually in additional metals and dial colours. The 5990 (travel-time chronograph) and 5980 (chronograph) continue alongside; the 5712 (annual calendar) and 7118 (women's mid-size) round out the contemporary catalogue.
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