Patek Philippe Nautilus Annual Calendar ref. 5726

The Origins

Born in 1976, the Patek Philippe Nautilus was Patek’s attempt to enter the luxury sports watch market that Audemars Piguet had created just four years prior with the launch of their Royal Oak collection. Designed by the legendary Gérald Genta, who was inspired by the portholes of transatlantic liners, the Nautilus boasts a unique hinge-inspired case design with a rounded octagonal bezel that leans on the same aesthetic identity as found in the Royal Oak. Functionally robust and undeniably elegant, the original Nautilus, the ref. 3700 was ground-breaking in its own right due to its exceptional water resistance of 120 meters. This more than doubled the Royal Oak’s 50-meter water resistance, which enabled the Nautilus to lay the foundation of collectors' expectations for the robustness of watches within the same category for the decades following as collectors sought timepieces with genuine wearability in any scenario, unlike their dress watches.

Launched in 2010, the Nautilus Annual Calendar ref. 5726 marked a profound moment in the Nautilus’ lineage. While the model had undoubtedly become an icon within Patek’s storied history, the ref. 5726 marked the occasion when the Nautilus was first combined with another iconic piece of Patek history, the annual calendar, a complication that was created by Patek in the 1990s as a halfway house between perpetual calendars and triple calendars. As a result of the annual calendar’s complexity, this fusion also made the ref. 5726 the most complicated Nautilus ever, at the time, making it a truly special offering in just about every way possible.

Case and Dial

Boasting a diameter of 40mm, the ref. 5726’s stainless steel case completely retains the Nautilus’ iconic design in each dimension. While other complicated Nautilus models have a tendency to grow quite tall, the ref. 5726 still comes in at a rather wearable 11.3mm tall. Granted, that is around 3mm taller than the perpetual calendar ref. 5740 and the time and date-only ref. 5711, it is still 1mm shorter than the travel-time chronograph ref. 5990 and chronograph ref. 5980, even with its more complicated movement.

Beyond the point of its height, the ref. 5726’s stainless steel case, which will certainly keep the Nautilus purists happy, lacks any protruding pieces that would allow its wearer to operate its functions, such as pushers or levers. Instead it features sunken pushers that are only operable with a push-pin, like most annual calendars on the market. As a result, the ref. 5726’s case and bracelet almost perfectly match the ref. 5711’s silhouette, with just its dial being the point of differentiation.

Of course, as an annual calendar, the ref. 5726 was always going to have a unique dial layout for a Nautilus, and it certainly does. Retaining the Nautilus’ horizontally-embossed texture and featuring a similar subdial layout as the chronograph ref. 5980, the ref. 5726 sports twin day and month aperture at 12 o’clock that are then mirrored by a lone date aperture at 6 o’clock, positioned just beneath a 24-hr subdial that encircles the ref. 5726’s moon phase indicator. Packed with useful functions that don’t distract from the Nautilus’ design, the ref. 5726 is as true to Gerald Genta’s vision for the Nautilus while also expanding upon its offering in an honest and canonically truthful manner.

The Movement

Powering the ref. 5726 is the automatic cal. 324 S QA LU 24H/303 movement, a testament to Patek Philippe's relentless pursuit of mechanical excellence in just about every manner possible. This movement, visible through the ref. 5726’s sapphire crystal caseback, boasts Patek’s esteemed level of finishing alongside a host of impressive technical feats such as its Gyromax balance, Spiromax® balance spring and 22k yellow gold winding rotor atop its stunning architecture. As a result of its myriad of functions and like the majority of Nautilus models, the ref. 5726 has a shorter-than-ideal power reserve, with just 35 to 45 hours at a beat rate of 4Hz.

Celeb Love

Like so many other Nautilus references, the ref. 5726 can lay claim to a long list of celebrities who have been known to wear one over the years. Perhaps due to its relatively affordable retail price, casual stainless steel construction and real-world utility, it is a favorite for plenty of celebrities, with sports stars, musicians, actors and everyone else you can imagine known to wear a ref. 5726. Most notably, however, Drake, the musician, had Virgil Abloh customise his ref. 5726 to his liking, with its entire construction and dial turned black with DLC and then set with green baguette emeralds across the case and bracelet and pavé set on the dial, a move that skyrocketed the ref. 5726’s notoriety amongst the public.

Market Performance

Given the fact that the annual calendar was specifically created as an affordable option to the perpetual calendar, it should serve as no surprise that the ref. 5726 is a relatively affordable $57842 when opting for the blue dial variant on a stainless steel bracelet. As this model was launched in 2019, its MSRP is higher than the white and black dial variants it replaced, which had MSRPs of $46250 at the time of their discontinuation. Alongside this higher MSRP, the blue dial variant also has the highest market value at $118000, which translates into a price premium of 105%.

Thanks to its less expensive MSRP, the white dial ref. 5726 on a bracelet, with a market value of $109000, has the greatest price premium at 137%, so should you have picked one of these up a few years ago you will have done very well. Finally, the most affordable ref. 5726 variant is the grey dial variant on a leather strap, with a market value of $87000 – reflecting a 65% price premium over its MSRP. This drop in market value is largely due to its reduced demand as a result of its lack of a bracelet and monochromatic aesthetic that Nautilus collectors often move away from in favor of brighter colors.

Check out the live performance of Patek Philippe Nautilus Annual Calendar ref. 5726 at The Wristcheck Index