How the Patek Philippe Nautilus became an iconic watch against all odds

5Gérald Genta, a legendary watch designer, claims it took him five minutes - in comparison to the night's worth of work it took him to design the Audemar Piguet's now-iconic Royal Oak - to fully sketch out what is now one of Patek Philippe's most important and recognisable watches Advertisement 1976The year was 1976: a guy named Steve Jobs launched a company called Apple, Bruce Jenner won the gold medal for the decathlon at the Olympics, more accurate and affordable quartz-powered timepieces were decimating the Swiss watch industry, and the Patek Philippe Nautilus was born During the height of quartz watches' popularity, the Nautilus was designed to be the revolutionary piece that would put mechanical Patek Philippe watches back on the map.

Patek made quick use of the price in advertising with the tagline: "One of the World's Costliest Watches Is Made Out of Steel." Talking about how expensive something is doesn't usually equal advertising success, but Patek Philippe's message was clear: while other brands were retreating in the face of cheaply made quartz timepieces, it was doubling down on luxury The tagline declared that even a sports watch from Patek was worth more than a luxury watch from another brand In the same advertisement that touted the cost of the watch, Patek compared the stainless steel watch to a sword made out of the same material.

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