The horological year that began with Watches and Wonders Geneva in April last year was perhaps most notable for what was not revealed there: a brand-new collection from Patek Philippe. Select press attending the fair heard about this coming launch via requests to block calendars in October. This news was then reported on by virtually everyone, including Luxuo. Why the fuss? It really is not every day that Patek Philippe unveils a new collection; it is not even every decade because the last full collection was the Twenty~4 in 1997, which was and remains for ladies. For a collection with more breadth, and inherent appeal to men, we have to go back to the 1995 launch of the Aquanaut. Needless to say, that is a long time between collections and is somewhat reflective of how long collectors take to fully embrace something new from the grand old names.
Read More: Patek Philippe Cubitus Proves It’s Hip to be Square
We made this very point in our initial story on the Cubitus, published right after the collection made its public debut. This story also covered the basics of the three new watches so we will not rehash that, except where necessary to hammer home any points. On that note…
Make no mistake about it, the Cubitus is entirely new and, in case you are wondering, it is indeed a properly square watch. Do not let the rounded corners deceive you. Not only is the shape new for Patek Philippe, it is actually the first time the brand has made such a wristwatch. Any similar shape you might be conjuring up in your mind, such as the Gondolo with its famous Ref. 5100, is not square (although we will return to these watches later).
“(Two reasons why the square shape is important), first because I never had it in (the brand’s permanent) collection, and I always enjoy seeing some of the square watches (from other brands),” said Stern. “And secondly, because I thought it would be good to surprise people with it. It’s a personal challenge for me also to say, well, nobody expected me to go there!”
With those words, Stern dispels any notion that market forces or collector demands fuelled the creation of the Cubitus. Ref 5821 is indeed the successor to the much-loved and now-discontinued Ref. 5711A and Stern tells us that he very much envisioned the Cubitus as part of the Nautilus family. Such is evident from the choice of hands, dials and even the integrated bracelet of the time-only models. While it is not so evident in the Ref. 5822, this is arguably because the end link for the Nautilus models with leather straps is not as famous as the integrated bracelets. A side-by-side comparison between Ref. 5822 and something like Ref. 5712 with leather straps shows that the links between the Nautilus and Cubitus are quite solid, if you will pardon the pun.
Patek Philippe asserts that what we might see as Nautilus hallmarks though are brand signifiers. “I didn’t even think of the Nautilus when (the design process started). The target for me was really to find a kind of sporty and classic watch, that’s for sure. (Maybe) I was inspired by the Nautilus because it’s such a strong design yet, when I look at (that watch), I said ‘Oh, how can I do something as strong as the Nautilus or even the Aquanaut but in a square shape? The square was really the number one target for me.
“I know people will say (the Cubitus) is a little bit the sister of the Nautilus, but I don’t mind,” Stern continued. “Why should I change just because (of design carry-overs)? So what, if the watch is nice? We don’t try to change things just because we have done something before…imagine if we had to say that of all the round watches we have done! ‘Don’t do another round watch.’ It would be impossible.”
On that well-defended point, it should be noted that Patek Philippe mostly reserves its form offerings in the aforementioned Gondolo line. That Stern did not reference this collection, nor the Golden Ellipse, is an important indicator of what the Cubitus is, or what Patek Philippe hopes it will be. While the team struggled to find the significance behind the new collection in a pithy sentence or two, we have now settled on this: the Patek Philippe Cubitus is meant for wide commercial success. Aside from the Twenty~4, Patek Philippe does not have a properly commercial form watch collection.
On that point, the Twenty~4 was the last big commercial collection for the Geneva brand, although it does not break down sales by collection. By way of contrast, the Nautilus and Aquanaut are both hugely popular but Patek Philippe considers both to be niche. We think the Cubitus represents a way for the brand to take advantage of the commercial potential of its sports lines while keeping the iconic models protected from market forces.
We will end on a positive remark about market forces, unlikely as that sounds. Movements matter, especially Patek Philippe ones, and if there is a hunger for the Cubitus, it might also make sense for those wonderful form movements from the Gondolo collection to make a comeback. Until that time, do look out for our full interview with Stern and several pieces on the Cubitus itself in the coming Festive issue of WOW.
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