Review: Patek Philippe Nautilus 5976/1G

In 1976, Patek Philippe boss Philippe Stern made a decision that would change the watchmaker overnight. In the face of an uncertain future for one of Switzerland’s most prestigious and revered brands, he gave the green light to an outrageous new luxury sports watch called the Nautilus. Little did he know that it would become one of the most desirable watches ever made. The 5976 celebrates 40 years of the Nautilus and is now competing to be one of the most expensive luxury watches you can actually buy—and we’ve got one. Here are five things about this watch that we just did not expect.

The Owner

The first thing that absolutely blew my mind about this watch isn’t anything to do with the actual watch itself. For a little bit of behind the scenes for you, the watches we feature on this channel that are for sale at Watchfinder have typically been through servicing before they reach us, either through Watchfinder’s own manufacturer-certified service centre or through the brand directly.

When you watch this, this Patek Philippe will have already been winging its way home for a full service, where the Swiss master will bring it back to absolute tip-top condition. Why am I telling you this? Not just as a surreptitious bit of marketing, but also so you understand that if we wanted to show you this watch, we needed to show it to you beforehand. When it comes back it’ll be vacuum-packed in a Patek Philippe sealed bag—where it may very well spend the rest of its life.

What you’re seeing here is the before, the watch as it was received. And here’s what blows my mind: this watch has been worn. Properly. Someone enjoyed this watch regularly, laying a gentle blanket of fine marks that any watch would pick up in the day-to-day. That’s fine, Patek Philippe can resolve that no problem. The watch will essentially be brand new. But what I absolutely adore is that this watch, despite its enormous value, was actually worn.

That gives me the same feeling I once had seeing a McLaren F1 GTR on the road. That car and this watch are surreal enough as it is, but in the context of a boring, ordinary world, I’d be less flabbergasted if I saw an actual unicorn. So, to the previous owner, whoever you are, I tip my hat to you. Well done.

The Presence

Now, I’m no stranger to the Nautilus. They’ve not always been astronomically priced. I remember seeing them sub-$10,000 about a decade or so ago. The basic 5711 is, dare I say it, almost an underwhelming experience. It’s so thin and so delicate, especially compared to an AP Royal Oak, that it almost disappears. It’s an incredibly sophisticated take on the luxury sports watch genre which, clearly, has been quite the hit.

Not this 5976 though. It is gigantic. You might be thinking at this stage that this watch is simply a tarted up 5980, but it’s not. It’s way bigger, and way, way heavier. We were shooting it and I hadn’t yet held it or seen it, and Tom, our videographer, told me it was heavy. No kidding, it’s almost 50mm across and made of white gold. Trust me, even forearmed with that information I had no idea just how heavy this thing was going to be.

It’s going to come across as a bit odd to belabour the point about the weight of this thing, but I can’t emphasise enough just how unexpected it was. I’ve worn gold watches before, with bracelets, with chunky cases, and yeah, they’ve got some heft to them. The 5976 is just so dense that I felt a flurry of concern over my ability to wear it without suffering exhaustion.

Lifting your arm to read the time is a genuine, no-word-of-a-lie effort. Do it a few times and it starts to hurt. Wear this frequently and you’ll need to swap wrists from time to time to build up even muscle mass, or people will start making assumptions as to what you like to do in your spare time.

With the size and weight combined, the 5976 is nothing short of larger than life. If Patek Philippe’s goal was to celebrate 40 years of the Nautilus with real impact, they’ve achieved it and then some. I’m an advocate for wearing the watch you want to wear, not what fashion dictates you should wear, but this watch is such a presence that I’m going to have to make an exception. Introverts need not apply.

The Dial

So, the 5976 doesn’t just get the uniquely proportioned white gold case and bracelet, it also gets a brand spanking new dial, too. Makes sense, as the one from the 5980 would just be way too small. The whole 5980 is basically the same size as the 5976’s dial. But Patek Philippe didn’t just stick the 5980 in the photocopier and up the size by 25%. This is a special watch, and special watches get special dials.

You get a unique blue that pops more than the typical 5711’s. It’s more of a Royal Blue, almost the same colour as my old school blazer. The larger chronograph sub-dial, a unique feature of Patek Philippe’s chronograph Nautilus, switches the hour and minute tracks now there’s enough space to put the minutes in the middle. You get diamonds, too, cut to match the metal batons you’d expect to see. The way they’re set and faceted actually means they’re very subtle—it can take a moment to realise they’re diamonds at all.

But then—but then they did something else. It wasn’t enough to make a unique watch. It wasn’t even enough to mark the anniversary on the case back. Patek Philippe decided a big watch like this needed a big message—and it has that, literally, right across the dial. You get the date the Nautilus was created, the date of the anniversary, and then sandwiched between them like a skinny guy on a long-haul flight, the number of years between the two.

Not only does this sit on the dial, not only is it bigger than Patek Philippe’s own branding, but it has a format that makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever. 1976-40-2016. It’s just about the boldest thing on this watch, embossed deeply into the dial, and in a watch as striking as this one, that’s saying something. Or maybe it’s a secret code. Minus eighty mean anything to you …?

The Movement

One thing this watch does share with the 5980 is the movement. The calibre CH 28-520 C gives both this and the smaller 5980 their uniform 12mm thicknesses, and when you look at this watch from the back, it’s all surprisingly sedate. Relatively speaking, that is. A Patek Philippe movement is of course a thing of exquisite beauty.

It’ll be no surprise then that it remains a flyback chronograph with that unique sub-dial arrangement, packing in such quality-of-life features as a vertical clutch and a column wheel. It’s not as visually compelling as the manually wound CH 29-535 PS, but given it’s exhausting enough just to wear this watch, the relief at not having to wind it as well will surely come as an unexpected benefit.

The calibre has all the refinement you’d expect, flawlessly finished and immaculately appointed. What really defines it is that, unusually, it’s not the focal point of this watch, literally dwarfed by everything else going on. It takes a back seat, like the engine in a Rolls Royce Phantom. It has all the luxury and power you could want, but when you don’t, it simply takes a step back and minds its own business.

The Price

Rare and exclusive examples of the Patek Philippe Nautilus are more desirable right now than actual treasure, and since this unique watch commemorates such a specific occasion and is limited as it is to just 1,300 pieces, it’s no surprise that they are rocketing in value, with some owners asking for as much as $1 million. There’s actually a 5711 version too that’s proving to be equally as desirable. With no examples of the recent Tiffany blue Nautilus actually available to purchase, that makes this one of if not the most expensive and desirable examples of the Patek Philippe Nautilus we can actually put our hands into our wallets and buy. Well, not us, but, you know ... people.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to experience a 5711 Nautilus and found yourself underwhelmed, then perhaps this 5976 is more what you were expecting. It’s big, it’s heavy—it’s really, really heavy—and more importantly, it packs an absolute punch. It’s every bit the watch its asking price suggests it is, larger than life and twice as memorable, perhaps one of the few watches I’ve seen at this price point that leaves me feeling closest to the awe I was expecting to feel when I finally got the chance to try it. To the future owner of this watch—I hope you enjoy it as much as the last guy did.

Looking for a pre-owned Patek Philippe watch? Click here to shop now