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The best description of the Patek Philippe Nautilus was vouchsafed me by the editor of these pages when she stopped my inchoate ramblings with the words: “So, it is the male horological equivalent of the Birkin?”
Yes it is. Just as the Birkin used to be a bag made by one of France’s leading luxury houses and is now an internationally traded financial instrument, auction house star and grail quest object; so the Nautilus, once a steel sports watch made by a leading luxury Swiss watch brand, is now a phenomenon. Propelled beyond the realm of mortal watches, today it frolics in the Elysian fields of luxury with other consumer goods turned cultural objects: the Hermès Birkin (obvs), the Riva Aquarama yacht and the Ferrari 250 GTO.