Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph – 5980-1A (White Dial)

I've written before about chronographs that can get away with appearing at board meetings, or on the marina at Cannes, as well as in true sporting situations. And mainly, those chronos are luxury sports watches first, and dress watches second. What I mean by that is they have the unmistakeable air of sporting endeavour built into their DNA. The multiple counters on the dial. The rubber-backed leather strap, or the solidly masculine three-link bracelet. What they don't always have (I'm thinking Hublot here, or Richard Mille ) is the sophistication to slip into a suit.
There can be few luxury chronographs that pull off the trick of being 'stealth sports' watches. And by that, I mean a luxury watch that looks all boardroom but performs admirably in a sporting environment. A word of definition here: I'm discounting finicky timepieces like the Piaget Altiplano Chronograph, and I'm also leaving out muscular watches made by brands that normally create 'fine' timepieces—the Breguet Type XX, for example. To fit into my category, you've got to be a very special animal indeed.
Really, it's a category of one. And it's occupied by the Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph 5980-1A.
About that model number. Patek Philippe 's full model number for this specific luxury watch is 5980/1A-019. The '019' refers to the white dial, an eye-catching evolution of the Nautilus dial that was premiered by Patek Philippe on the Nautilus chrono, a three-hand classic Nautilus, and an annual calendar moonphase Nautilus. The hallmark horizontal embossed lines are still there, but now they fade into the background against hour markers that pop from the watch face. Patek Philippe solved the problem of white faces mixed with white-lumed markers and hands by finishing the metal beneath the lume in a deep, shiny black.
There's a date window at 3 o'clock, and an exceedingly clever chrono counter at 6. Basically a counter within a counter, the subdial fits all the components of a 12-hour chronograph into a single indication. The effect is to keep the dial as restrained, as 'Nautilus', as possible. That oh-so-recognisable field of horizontal texture, while subdued when you look at the watch head-on, is retained. There's space for the Patek logo beneath the 12 o'clock markers. And the long, signature Nautilus hands have plenty of room to breathe as they circumnavigate the Genta -designed face.
The Nautilus has always been a muscular boardroom watch—a sports watch with the sportiness subtly clothed in shining metal bracelet links and the alternate brush-and-polish of the bezel. It's like a really buff guy who also happens to be MD of a multinational corporation. Or a Hollywood action hero dressed up for the red carpet. Beneath the subtle cut of the expensive suit, you can still see the solidity of the body: the triangular deltoids, the bulk of the shoulders.
Actually, that's not a bad comparison for a luxury watch favoured by (among other megastars) Jason Statham. The Stath's super-cut bod is familiar to anyone with a love of action films, and his red-carpet style is the perfect match for the Nautilus Chronograph. Statham wears the black dial version, but hey. We can't all be perfect. It still looks killer on his wrist, and it sits just as well beneath the tailored suits as it does with an off-duty polo shirt and stuntman's cap.
The Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph 5980-1A weighs in at a conservative 40.5 mm, though the highly-polished chrono pushers and sweeping 'ears' give the case an extra appearance of bulk. The stainless steel case is waterproof to 30 m—the only mark in the 'against' column when weighing up the virtues and vices of the piece. It is, after all, a sports watch: and if ex-National Diving Squad member Statham can't take a plunge in it, it's missing a trick. It's even called 'Nautilus', for goodness' sake. (The Nautilus is a very cool marine mollusc, and also the name of Captain Nemo's submarine).
The glass on front, and display back, is sapphire crystal. The stainless steel bracelet is secured with a double-fold clasp hidden behind Patek's unobtrusive Calatrava buckle.
The movement is Patek's calibre CH 28-520 C, which runs with central hours and minutes, a sweeping chrono hand, the date, and the aforementioned 12-hour dual chrono counter. This counter is equipped with two hands, like a tiny clock, for easy reading of the elapsed minutes and hours.
The white dial version of the Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph is discontinued: a shame, as the white dial is a welcome update to this classic luxury watch. The watch originally retailed for upwards of £38k: a standard Patek price for a more-than-standard version of the brand's classic.
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Image Credit – officialwatches.com vedere di piu rolex orologi e Hermes Wealthcar