Patek Philippe: Cubitus is the first collection in 25 years

Christmas comes once every twelve months, we experience February 29th once every four years – and a decade generally seems like an eternity. This should be said at this point to realize how unique the following world premiere is for the watch world: The “Cubitus” series is the first new watch collection from Patek Philippe in 25 years.

Everything about the Geneva house is looked at particularly closely by watchmaking enthusiasts. Since Thierry Stern, the owner and president of the manufacturer, spoke about his plans for a new collection, there has been a lot of speculation about it. At the Bergson Kunstfabrik in Munich, the Patek Philippe family celebrated the world premiere of the “Cubitus” with 600 guests – including some of the house’s most important collectors – which surprised everyone. A square clock with eight edges. Obviously related to its famous sister “Nautilus”. However, it is larger, more expansive, more masculine, and therefore very independent and can be recognized from afar.

This new part of the company’s history begins with a total of three variants of the model: As a kind of high-end basic model, the reference 5821/1A-001 is made of stainless steel, with an olive green sunburst dial. Retro-cool with vintage elements, the reference 5821/AR-001 presents itself as a bicolor model in steel and rose gold. The dial here is deep blue. The watchmaking highlight, however, is a version in platinum, with instantaneous displays for the outsize date, the day of the week and the moon phase: the reference 5822P-001, with a blue strap made of composite material with a textile look. For this model, the in-house 240 PS movement was expanded into the new 240 PS CI J LU caliber. Six patents are pending for energy management for the displays and their simultaneous jumps within 18 milliseconds.

Pictures of the platinum reference in question could already be seen in an advertisement in the US magazine Fortune a few days before the new launch. Since then, the watch social media world has been working on the “Cubitus”. The visual proximity to the “Nautilus” in particular seems to be provocative. Manufactory driver Thierry Stern is emphatically relaxed about this. Yes, of course Blatt, Band & Co. are very close to the famous series, but these elements are recognized to be extremely well made and popular. Other experiments would not have been so convincing.

Stern now puts this new collection alongside “Aquanaut” and “Nautilus” and complements the category of noble sports models. The president had longed for a square watch for a long time, and now the time was simply ripe. The model took four years of development, and the new caliber for the platinum version took six years to develop. Stern says: “Our job is to always present Patek Philippe in a lively way.” We have to adapt to customers and their wishes. It’s part of the company’s DNA and part of my job as president to grow our watch family.”

Despite its square format and generous 45 millimeters diameter, the “Cubitus” still wears relatively well, even on narrower wrists. However, due to their size, the watches have a high presence on the wrist; the steel version in particular inevitably attracts attention. It’s also about ensuring that the watch also appeals to those collectors for whom other models from the company may not have been eye-catching enough.

While there had been speculation in advance that the new family from Geneva would make it a little easier for them to enter the manufacturing world, the prices speak a different language. The steel “Cubitus” is already billed at 40,557 euros. For comparison: an “Aquanaut” with a steel bracelet, Ref. 5167/1A, currently costs 27,810 euros. The bi-color version has a retail price of 60,257 euros – and in platinum the watch costs 80,908 euros.

The first watches are scheduled to go to the concessionaires next week, of which there are currently 24 in Germany. According to reports, several thousand copies of the Cubitus will be produced in the first year. With an estimated annual production of a good 72,000 watches, spread across a catalog of 140 different models, expectations of the new are also high.

There are probably already numerous pre-orders. And no matter how controversial “Cubitus” may be discussed in the anonymous social media world: the confident composure with which Thierry Stern and his employees present the series in Munich is impressive. A quarter of a century ago, he himself was able to observe how his father Philippe presented the “Twenty-4” to the world public – at that time still in the background.

Now it’s his turn, the team has done its homework and there is great confidence in the product. Brothers, sisters and cousins ​​are of course already ready for the new collection – the planning has already started in 2039. Because at Patek Philippe, as is well known, we don’t think from time to time, but rather in generations.