Patek Philippe

For those who, like me, are more attracted to dress watches than to sports watches, the Patek Philippe ref. 3800/1A-001 (or 3800/1A-XII) & 3710/1A-001 might be the best iterations of the Nautilus. At least, personally, they're the ones I feel the most attracted to.

Introduced in 1981 (but available only one year later in 1982) and produced until 2006, the ref. 3800 was the midsize brother of the original ref. 3700, with a 37.5 mm case (instead of 42 mm). It was the first Nautilus with an in-house automatic movement, caliber 335 SC with central seconds (the letters SC stand for 'seconde centrale' in French and the original ref. 3700 didn't have a seconds hand). The caliber was later improved with a quick-set date, the Geneva Seal and a 3 Hz frequency and became 330/134 SC in 1992 and 330/194 SC in 1997. The ref. 3800/1A-001 with white gold applied Roman numerals seems to have been introduced in 1996 and has a deep black lacquer dial with leaf hands and a printed railroad minutes track. This model is historically important, because it served as a model for the precursor of the Aquanaut: the ref. 5060S (about which I posted here).

Introduced two years later in 1998, the ref. 3710/1A-001  sometimes referred to as 'The Comet' was the first-ever Nautilus to feature a complication other than the date or central seconds function, with the integration of a power reserve indicator made of a metallic graduated scale that rotates as the watch is being wound and a pointer that rotates as power is discharged. It was also the first time that the original 'Jumbo' case proportions (42 mm) were used in a Nautilus other than the initial 3700. Exclusively produced in stainless steel until it was discontinued in 2006, the 3710/1A-001 features a matte black dial with applied Roman numerals and a central seconds hand. The power reserve indicator, or IZR for 'Indication de Zone de Remontage', is displayed between 11 & 12 o’clock, an asymmetric placement which makes this reference even more charming, imo. The brand signature is unusually placed at 6 o'clock.

These two models are presented in reverse chronological order.

Have a great Sunday!

Emmanuel

A/ Ref. 3710/1A-001 aka 'The Comet' with caliber 330 SC IZR

1/ Wrist shots

2/ Static shots

B/ Ref. 3800/1A-001 with caliber 335 S C (Watchbase uses ref. 3800/1A-XII, but Certificates of Origin use ref. 3800/1A-001)

1/ Wrist shots

credit: @timelessvintage.watch (1), @tavli1968 (2), @watchbrotherslondon (3), @berendloveswatches (4) & amsterdam vintage watches (5)

credit: @rivewatch (1), @swisswatchexpo (2), Amsterdam vintage watches (3-6)

3/ An example of Certificate of Origin 

credit: christie’s 

4/ A gorgeous version of the Roman numerals 3800 in yellow gold, ref. 3800/1J

5/ A different dial layout of the 3800/1J with only three Roman numerals, luminous hour dots and baguette hands (I personally like it a lot less)



credit: analog shift 


C/ ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS

1/ A 1999 listing of the different dials available for the ref. 3800 (courtesy of John Nagayama)




2/ Caliber 335 SC (left) & 330 SC (right)



credit: a collected man 

3/ The Nautilus 40th Anniversary Timeline

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