Chapter 5/6
The power and desirability of a watch can be measured by its legacy. And I mean that word in the hereditary sense. If it spawns evolutions, if it evolves into sub-collections, if it has siblings and, why not, even a twin-like brother, then a timepiece can be referred to as seminal. I can hardly think of anything more potent. The case isn't rare in watchmaking, a domain obsessed with icons and ways to milk them. Nautilus's case is different. It doesn't just have the one offspring. It has two.
It can be contentious to posit that Aquanaut is a descendant of Nautilus. But the facts are stubborn. A press release from the Nautilus' 40th anniversary mentions that the first leather straps on Nautilus had paved the way for the Aquanaut. Case in point, similarities abound. Same aquatic reference in the name, similar overall shape (a rounded square, or a squarish circle), a similar if enhanced sports inspiration, a ribbed-adjacent dial pattern, large luminescent indices, a hefty crown guard, and most of all, this one characteristic that is integral to the Nautilus' success : Aquanaut came in steel and sometimes even on a steel bracelet. Launched in 1997, it was meant as an entry point into the collection, at a time when such a consideration mattered to the brand. Sure, the Aquanaut doesn't have the pedigree of the Nautilus, nor its age, nor its integrated bracelet construction (which was completely out of fashion by then). But it clearly had taken a large number of cues from its elder. Though not as many as the Cubitus.
Patek Philippe has a hard time acknowledging it, but there is hardly any doubt that the Cubitus is a square Nautilus. Rather than listing the reasons why, a quick glance will make it obvious, as will a more prolonged one. Just like a diamond cut has many shapes and can still retain its definitions and name (trapeze baguettes, triangular emerald-cut …), the Cubitus is a Nautilus with a different outline. There is an exception though. Even tough the Cubitus comes in steel, with a blue or a green dial, people are not (yet) slaughtering one another to get one.
The launch of Cubitus in 2024 was a messy affair. It was designed to be a distraction, another one, to shift the attention away from the cumbersome success of the ultimate watch icon. People were unhappy, they voiced their disapproval, brand president Thierry Stern sent them packing, backlash ensued. Still, in the end, the Cubitus ended doing what a Patek does : it sold and ended up with a hefty markup on the secondary market. The original 45-mm case (measured from 10 to 4 o'clock) was a bit wide so they quickly supplemented it with a smaller version. But in both cases, the Cubitus served a tremendously useful purpose.
After seeing the Nautilus in so many glossy magazine pages, so many auctions, on so many wrists, it had began to loose its identity. It had turned into a legend, an archetype, and had ceased to exist on its own merit. Specifically, on its own design merit. Cubitus reminded everyone this design is quintessentially a 1970s style. It's extremely, undeniably vintage-looking. In the son, one could see the face of the father, only younger. If that isn't heredity, I don't know what to call it. But did it help divert buyers' attention from the Nautilus? Not as much as the hard landing of watch flipping and insane speculation on timepieces in general.
