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Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with black dial, diamond indexes and platinum bracelet in 1981 and its subsequent sale on 28 April 1983.
Each watch manufacturer has, pending the wealth of its history, a signature model which is instantly recognised by aficionados, but also by laymen. Some of the world's leading names in the field of horology may even claim more than one such milestone design to be theirs.
Despite Patek Philippe's one and three-quarter century long and rich history, few watches by the distinguished Geneva firm are today as famous and broadly known as the Nautilus.
Introduced in 1976 as the firm's first sports watch, it has since then conquered the world in different sizes, featuring different movements, displaying different functions and cased in different metals. The inimitable porthole design of the Nautilus is today a synonym of class, dynamic lifestyle and personality.
The first Nautilus model was reference 3700/1, today also referred to as the "Jumbo Nautilus". Originally available only in stainless steel, shortly afterwards the bi-color (stainless steel and gold) and full gold version became available. At the same time, the gold version became also the perfect starting point for diamond embellishments, not only the lady's version. Few scholars know that the Jumbo was also available in white gold, today one of the rarest version on the collector's market. As a matter of fact, only 6 examples have been seen in the last 30 years of auctions!
If the white gold version of reference 3700/1 is an exotic sighting, the appearance of a platinum Jumbo Nautilus is as rare as it can get for a collector! Simply put, in over 30 years of existence of this platinum grail, no other example has ever been seen, mentioned, illustrated or discussed in public, yet offered at auction. As a matter of fact, the present platinum Jumbo is the one and only known example of the original Nautilus cased in platinum.
Never before offered at auction, the present reference 3700/1 in platinum has always been considered amongst collectors a myth. It's divine weight at over 220 grams, the subtly different dial (compared to the other "white" versions) and the uncertainty if there is another example "out there" have lifted the only known platinum Jumbo to celebrity status. All this is the privilege of its owner and the knowledge that this is the most important, valuable, exclusive version of the best known model of the world's most important watch manufacturer.
The model is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second édition, p. 231.
Each watch manufacturer has, pending the wealth of its history, a signature model which is instantly recognised by aficionados, but also by laymen. Some of the world's leading names in the field of horology may even claim more than one such milestone design to be theirs.
Despite Patek Philippe's one and three-quarter century long and rich history, few watches by the distinguished Geneva firm are today as famous and broadly known as the Nautilus.
Introduced in 1976 as the firm's first sports watch, it has since then conquered the world in different sizes, featuring different movements, displaying different functions and cased in different metals. The inimitable porthole design of the Nautilus is today a synonym of class, dynamic lifestyle and personality.
The first Nautilus model was reference 3700/1, today also referred to as the "Jumbo Nautilus". Originally available only in stainless steel, shortly afterwards the bi-color (stainless steel and gold) and full gold version became available. At the same time, the gold version became also the perfect starting point for diamond embellishments, not only the lady's version. Few scholars know that the Jumbo was also available in white gold, today one of the rarest version on the collector's market. As a matter of fact, only 6 examples have been seen in the last 30 years of auctions!
If the white gold version of reference 3700/1 is an exotic sighting, the appearance of a platinum Jumbo Nautilus is as rare as it can get for a collector! Simply put, in over 30 years of existence of this platinum grail, no other example has ever been seen, mentioned, illustrated or discussed in public, yet offered at auction. As a matter of fact, the present platinum Jumbo is the one and only known example of the original Nautilus cased in platinum.
Never before offered at auction, the present reference 3700/1 in platinum has always been considered amongst collectors a myth. It's divine weight at over 220 grams, the subtly different dial (compared to the other "white" versions) and the uncertainty if there is another example "out there" have lifted the only known platinum Jumbo to celebrity status. All this is the privilege of its owner and the knowledge that this is the most important, valuable, exclusive version of the best known model of the world's most important watch manufacturer.
The model is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second édition, p. 231.