All That Glitters

Patek Philippe writes a new chapter in the story of the Nautilus, and it is all about little improvements and precious metal

- Ashok Soman

One of the great horological mysteries of recent years has been answered: Patek Philippe introduced the Nautilus Ref. 5811/1G-001, effectively replacing Ref. 5711. Looking at the watch as it appears here, you could be forgiven for doing a double-take and wondering if we used the old picture. Well, we did not, and Ref. 5811 is quite a different beast to the Ref. 5711, although pretty much everyone expected the successor to look quite similar. One does not simply reinvent the wheel, after all, and there is plenty to discuss here. After some reflection - we saw this watch in person in October, along with most of the specialised watch press - Ref.5811 is worthy of significant coverage. You, dear reader, deserve the chance to understand what is happening here and make up your own mind about it. To that end, we will focus on the facts and leave our opinions out of it for the most part.