Patek Philippe made its mark in the domain of sporty elegance wristwatches with the introduction of the Nautilus (1976) and the Aquanaut (1997) – models that have acquired cult status, with the latter strengthening its offering in 2004 with the launch of the ladies’ Aquanaut Luce line. The most desirable pieces are sport watches these days and this possibly has everything to do with the general loss of formality in clothes wear, with jeans and T shirts as the norm compared to the more formal attire of the past. Usually, when we think of Patek Philippe, we think of amazingly finished dress watches with highly complicated calibres, but today, most will say their most desirable piece is a Nautilus or Aquanaut. Because of this, waitlists have gone crazy, where you have to be a special client of Patek to buy a sports model and as a result, the premiums on the second hand market trade at multiples of the retail price.
The craze for sports watches continues and this week we are looking at the watch that has raised a few eyebrows, ours included: the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar. Following the introduction of a Travel Time dual time-zone model in 2021 and a self-winding chronograph version in 2022, the Aquanaut Luce is now treating itself to a new practical and easy-to-use complication: the patented Annual Calendar. Graced with a blue-grey dial and strap, this Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar Reference 5261R-001 in rose gold enhances the choice of complicated watches for women with a non-gem set model.
This new Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar ref 5261R measures a rather comfortable 39.9mm – yes just 0.1mm shy of 40mm and is made from rose-gold: I’m sure a few men might just have a look at how this model feels on the wrist… The blue-grey dial is embossed with typical Aquanaut motif and makes use of applied gold numerals with white super Luminova. The annual calendar function has been laid out in an unusual fashion to other Patek pieces: at 12 o’clock is the moon phase, while the month and day have been placed just below the centre axis in neat registers at 9 & 3 o’clock, with a date window at 6 o’clock.
The Aquanaut Luce annual calendar makes use of the new calibre 26-330 S QA LU with a central rotor in 21ct gold, which is based on the 26-330 S C Patek introduced in 2019 and used in the last generation of the 5711, among others. In features several technical innovations and optimizations for performance and dependability – including a patented anti-backlash wheel to prevent the seconds hand from vibrating, as well as a patented clutch wheel improving the efficiency and longevity of the self-winding function. The presence of a “stop seconds” (which instantly stops the balance when the crown is pulled into the hand setting position) allows adjustment to the nearest second. When the crown is pushed home, the mechanism gives a small impulse to the balance to set it in motion again.
The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar ref. 5261R-001 is only available in 18ct rose gold with a blue-grey dial and is priced at £49,530. For more information visit patek.com.
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