Thematic Exhibition: 1976 – 2026 Nautilus 50th Anniversary of an Icon of Sporty Elegance

Launched during its Open House Weekend on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June 2026, the Patek Philippe Museum is pleased to announce a thematic exhibition retracing 50 years of history of one of its flagship collections, the Nautilus. The exhibition will run from June 2026 until early 2027.

Launched in 1976, the Nautilus signaled in many respects a break with the classic codes of luxury watchmaking beginning with the choice of steel, a metal unheard of for a watch in this category; and the atypical style of its case, neither round, nor rectangular, presenting an octagonal bezel with softened corners. Indeed, this was not a design created merely for the originality of its shape, but a form dictated by its function as a water-resistant watch case, inspired by the principle of a ship’s porthole. There is technical thinking behind each of its details. The case is a two-part construction, in which the part comprising the case back and middle is drilled in only one place, for the winding-stem; the bezel is attached and pressed down onto the two case hinges by four clamping screws – a construction reminiscent of the portholes of the old transatlantic liners, with their hinge-and-bolt locking system, hermetically clamping the joints onto the steel framework.