Yes, we've had some flops and the usual conveyor belt of minor facelifts launched with the fanfare of royal babies (a slightly lighter blue dial? But amid the noise, there's been much signal worth tuning into. The most influential watch of all time?
Gérald Genta's masterpiece, the Patek Philippe Nautilus, marked its 50th anniversary with a trio of ultra-thin editions powered by the 240 movement, which is normally found in the dressier Calatrava. Aesthetically, the anniversary models tack close to Genta's design—any tweaks to the porthole case or integrated bracelet would be sacrilege, mind—but there are some material differences. As in, the materials are different.
Where the original ushered in the age of luxury stainless steel watches, here we get the sports style but precious substance; your pick between white gold or platinum. Well, we say take your pick. Good luck finding even one, let alone a choice.
Due in November, but leaked last month, Casio's newest G-Shock hasn't just got us excited because the brand doesn't really do full analogues. That porthole-shaped case, those broad shoulders, they remind us of something… We're chalking this one up as a birthday tribute to Patek. And we'll also take it as a gift to us, because from around $135, it's a lot of watch for not a lot of money: 200m water resistance, shockproof magnetic hands so it's as tough as any of G-Shock's digitals, a 30-minute stopwatch, and a special battery-saving mode that stretches its runtime to five years (about half the length of a Nautilus waitlist, then).
We'll take the resin model in egg yolk yellow, please and thank you. Rolex is not a surprise-drop brand. So when the Padellone arrived in September, with no hoo and limited ha, collectors sat up (for context, the Crown's last off-cycle release was the Daytona launched at the 100th Le Mans, which got those same collectors rather frothy).
The Padellone is full of collector in-jokes, not least the name, which means “frying pan” in Italian. That moniker was originally bestowed on this watch's inspiration, the 8171, because of its wide case (well, for the 1950s) and domed dial. It also had a moonphase and complete calendar, which is upgraded here to an annual—it automatically corrects for 30/31 months, only needing manual intervention between February and March.
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