Patek Philippe 5072R-001 Aquanaut with Diamonds
Patek Aqunaut 5072R-001
On the 8th of June 1810, one of the earliest watch collectors, the Queen of Naples (Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister) commissioned Abraham Louis Breguet to build her an oval repeater mounted on a wristlet of woven hair and gold thread. This was presumably to go along with the other 34 clocks and watches already in her possession from the manufacturer.
The piece was number 2639, and it was the first documented wristwatch in the world. No images of it exist beyond its suspected appearance in an oil painting, however it is detailed in Breguet’s register of commissions, and there is a further note detailing its repair in 1849.
In 1868 Antoni Patek (you may recognise the name) created a wristwatch for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary It was intended as a jewellery piece and as such was intricately carved and set with a diamond centrepiece. Patek has the piece on display in its Geneva museum and refers to it as the first Swiss wristwatch, a subtle and faintly cheeky sleight of hand that succeeds only because the Breguet was likely made in France.
In 1904 Louis Cartier made a wristwatch for his aviator friend Alberto Santos Dumont, a prototype that would eventually go into production for consumers in 1911.
Despite the Santos, wristwatches for men didn’t fully “catch on” until the first world war when troops began to loop pieces of leather through wires that they had soldered onto their pocket watches which were proving to be exceptionally impractical on the battlefield.
Watchmaking for men really took off when the soldiers returned from the battlefields and continued to wear their trench based creations but for the century before that, sisters were doing it for themselves.
Fitting, then, that today we’re looking at a Patek “Haute joallerie” piece created 156 years after the Countess Koscowicz watch.
This is the absolutely sublime Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5072R-001
Above and beyond the fact that this is an absolute showstopper of a watch, the two very specific things that I love about it are:
1 - in a rare turn up for the books, the addition of diamonds hasn’t knocked the water resistance down from 120m to merely splash resistant - I’m looking at you, other brands.
And 2 - Its a woman’s watch, its a bejewelled woman’s watch, and despite these two designations, its an automatic watch.
You have no idea how many times I’ve been excited to see a new release for the fairer sex only to discover that despite the fur coat, it’s sturdy underwear is missing and at the beating heart of the piece lies a battery.
With so many women these days moving towards mens watches because they want to enjoy the same specs and tech, its a treat to see smaller wrists catered to without conceding any ground as far as repairability and robustness is concerned.
Granted you may not want to wear a baguette clad wristwatch while diving, but the point that you COULD is one that is very much in this Aquanaut’s favour.
Its a 35.6mm piece, but for ease of reference it wears very similarly to a 36mm Datejust so perfectly suited to a female wrist and its raison d’être is to showcase Pateks prowess at creating dazzling jewellery pieces for women, and I have to say, they’ve proved the point with this one.
The case is 18 carat rose gold with a crystal caseback and screw-down crown that has been treated to a full mirror polish.
Its bezel not brushed as per the Aquanaut norm, and is instead set with 40 flawlessly cut baguette and trapeze diamonds amounting to 2.74 carats worth.
Not to be outdone round the back, the clasp also features a further 10 baguettes flush fit into the clasp. There is a further littering of diamonds on the dial which serve as markers around the minute track.
You would think that given this thing has more carats than a donkey sanctuary, they would be the crowning glory of this watch, but, they aren’t. That accolade goes to the engraved mother of pearl dial which is mounted over the top of an 18ct gold plate.
Patek describes it somewhat unappealingly as two tone beige, and while the renders make it look like a lifeless mauve/beige checkerboard, I would urge you to completely ignore both the CGI and the off-putting description because in real life, it is beautiful.
While there is a slight colour shift between tones, it is the result of the natural mother of pearl shimmer catching the light differently as it moves across the engraved planes of the globe motif. It’s really quite spellbinding and I would assume difficult to machine due to the delicate nature of pearl.
The trade off between diamond markers and the jewellery theme of the dial is that there is no lume above and beyond a thick layer applied to the hands, but, this doesn’t really affect low light legibility as diamond markers do tend to reflect what ambient light there is available so the watch remains easily readable at a glance, most of the time.
Running the show and visible through the rear case-back is Patek’s calibre 324 S C which is the automatic movement found in most of the brands sports pieces with a date complication including the Nautilus 5711, Aquanaut 5167, Calatravas and some of the auto Twenty4’s. Its a sturdy and reliable calibre which gives a 45 hour power reserve, soabsolutely no complaints there.
I do have a complaint about the strap however, specifically the colour, as the rest is a standard high quality Patek rubber which echoes the globe/grid pattern of the dial and is typical of the Aquanaut range.
The colour though, in my opinion, is a poor choice named “pearly beige” which may as well be renamed “disappointing beige” as that is the distinct impression that it leaves me with. It is a sort of deep fleshy tone which while contrasting inoffensively with the dial, does the watch absolutely no favours.
I am aware that I am going up against Patek Philippe like I view myself as some kind of Genta-esque watch design guru here, but the dial is so spectacular that along with the riot of diamonds, it deserves a background that will really bring out the life in this particular party, and i’m afraid that BEIGE just isn’t up to the job.
Imagine, if you will, this glinting rose gold case, pearl dial, and diamonds set against an inky night sky coloured strap, or navy, anthracite, or even black if you want to be conservative.
Fortunately, at 19mm this Aquanaut shares the same lug width as some of the previous iterations, notably the 5067A which has a pretty comprehensive range of straps including the navy which I mention above.
A strong coloured strap would turn this into an absolute 10/10 showstopper, and I’m delighted that Patek is continuing the tradition of jewellery pieces for women that not only look good, but share the same calibres and water resistance as their masculine counterparts.
Here’s to not half-assing it for female aficionados.