Discover the new Patek Philippe Cubitus watch collection

Patek Philippe watchers have been waiting to see what would replace the stainless steel, blue-dial Nautilus 571 that the Geneva-based watchmaker so unceremoniously dropped from the catalog, making it the watch with the widest gap between demand and supply ever known (unless, of course the Tiffany dial version). Three years later we have the answer – the Cubitus, which is available in three forms: the 5821A in steel, the 5821AR in steel and gold and the 5822P Grand Date in platinum.

(Image credit: Patek Philippe)

Almost inevitably, news of the Cubitus leaked before its official launch, triggering an avalanche of calls to the brand’s dealers, who have the unenviable task of allocating customers one reported Cubitus per store (be very careful if anyone claims to be able to obtain one). as is already the case online). Aside from the predictable frenzy, however, the Cubitus is a pretty fascinating package.

The 5821/5822 case is Patek Philippe’s first truly new case shape since the Aquanaut in 1997 and the original Twenty-4 in 1999 (and its update in 2018). It’s a bold design that recalls the parts of 1970s watch design that Gerald Genta (designer of the original Nautilus, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak and many others) didn’t touch, although there is just a hint of the short-lived, square Royal There is oak in the flat square bezel. And it’s the most masculine, non-macho design I’ve seen in years. Still, in its overall appearance it is largely a son of the Nautilus, and there are Nautilus accents in terms of the bracelet attachment and the louvered bands on the dial, a detail that is repeated on the winding rotors visible through the back of the watch.

(Image credit: Patek Philippe)

Patek says they worked on the idea as a concept for years, but were unable to execute the idea to the satisfaction of Thierry Stern (the company’s president). Stern wanted a lower profile to compensate for the larger size that a square shape brings without compromising on safety and robustness – you can’t dive with the Cubitus, but it can handle everything else. It then took three years to refine the details so that the watch sits flat enough on the wrist. Another requirement from M. Stern was that there had to be a new movement, namely the “Caliber 240 PS CI J LU Instantaneous Grand Date, Day and Moon Phases”. The additional features only increase the height of the movement by 0.77mm, while the majority of the design work went into changing the date.

Prices are £35,330 for the 5821A, £52,480 for the 5821AR and £75,690 for the 5822P