Flying Colours: Bazaar Arabia’s Watch Columnist Elizabeth Doerr on Patek Philippe’s Newest High Jewellery Creations
Each with its own sporty flair, Elizabeth shares how these exquisite timepieces combine the best of craftsmanship and elegance
Sporty-chic is a term thrown around a lot today in high watchmaking, even though this isn’t a field usually subjected to the whims of fashion. However, watchmaking is leaning more and more into such labels these days, and sporty-chic is certainly one of the most popular categories, capturing the zeitgeist of today’s feel for luxury, which now often includes a taste of casual flair.
Patek Philippe’s Nautilus line is a great example of sporty-chic with staying power, too. The Nautilus originally appeared as a men’s watch in 1976 as the traditional brand’s answer to a new trend that Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak had invented in 1972. Interestingly both watches were designed by the same man, Gérald Genta. He quite audaciously mastered the art of luxurious sporty-chic at a time when stainless steel wristwatches in the haute horlogerie segment weren’t on anybody’s radar and traditional precious metals – particularly gold – were all the rage. Twenty-one years later, in 1997, the more rugged and much smaller Aquanaut made its debut, a relaxed timepiece whose design derived from the sporty Nautilus line.
The Aquanaut isn’t ‘just’ pretty or ‘just’ meant to be worn in sportier situations, but it certainly is chic. Like the Nautilus, it has received its fair share of complication and high jewellery variations over the years, despite its casual attitude – now culminating in the Aquanaut’s first minute repeater to chime the time. Containing both beauty and brains, this highly complicated timepiece has been placed in the Aquanaut Luce line. Luce (Italian for light) that it is a bejewelled variation – here adorned with a rainbow of multicoloured invisible-set, snow-set, and baguette-cut sapphires and diamonds.
The case of Patek Philippe’s Aquanaut Luce Rainbow Minute Repeater Haute Joaillerie Reference 5260 is set with 52 multi-coloured baguette-cut sapphires, 112 baguette-cut diamonds, and 160 brilliant-cut diamonds. The octagonal shape of the Aquanaut bezel is highlighted by two rows of baguette-cut gems – one flawlessly colourless and the other in radiant rainbow – set using the invisible technique, which sees each stone painstakingly cut with lateral grooves so it can be fitted into miniature gold rails that become invisible once the stone is in place. The hour markers are made of different-coloured sapphires and placed among a blizzard of 160 brilliant-cut diamonds of varying sizes snow-set to look like fresh, sparkling snow. Patek Philippe’s Aquanaut Luce Rainbow Minute Repeater Haute Joaillerie Reference 5260 comes on a choice of three sporty composite material straps delivered in a set with a folding clasp set with baguette-cut diamonds or a fully rainbow gem-set gold bracelet. The number of gems on the latter version is of course exponentially higher: 130 baguette-cut diamonds on the dial and the outer row of the bezel and 779 multi-coloured baguette-cut sapphires forming a rainbow on the inner row of the bezel, the flanks of the case, the minute repeater slide and the rose-gold bracelet. On this version, the dial is set slightly differently with a bevy of baguette-cut diamonds replacing the snow-set gemstones. The hands are set with sapphires, a mathematical feat considering that gemstones are quite weighty. Naturally, this complicated beauty is powered by an automatic movement.
The Aquanaut is not the only model to receive a 2023 high-jewellery makeover, though: the mothership Nautilus line welcomes three new haute joaillerie models showcasing a diamond snow setting paired with blue sapphires, rubies, or emeralds. Powered by an automatic movement, these come in 35.2 mm white gold cases combining 1,500 brilliant-cut diamonds paired with a choice of 876 brilliant-cut blue sapphires, brilliant-cut rubies, or brilliant-cut emeralds using the snow setting technique. The coloured stones adorning the bezel draw focus to the inimitable shape of the Nautilus, while diamonds on the outer links contrast with coloured gems on the inner links to play up the original design of the Nautilus bracelet.
Finally, two graceful new quartz-powered Ladies Nautilus variations housed in 32 mm rose gold cases boast an original, purple-lacquered dial, whose freshness is hard to top. One comes on a rose-gold bracelet and the other on a strap with the same unusually fresh colour as the dial. This dial, replete with the pattern of small waves typical of the Ladies’ Nautilus collection, requires some 50 coats of lacquer, beginning with translucent purple and then progressing to colourless, to create a magical sense of depth. The octagonal bezel sparkles with 46 brilliant-cut Top Wesselton-grade diamonds.
These timepieces might be considered sporty-chic in certain watch circles but, after taking in all the attention to detail that went into executing each piece, they are simply chic – full stop.
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@dubaiwatchclubgirls