Watchmaker makes watch. Hardly headline news. Except, in this case (and ‘case’ being the operative word here), when that watchmaker is Patek Philippe, which hasn’t released a new watch in 25 years, and that watch, hold on to your loupes, has a square case (as I said) – still something of a rarity in fine watchmaking and a first for Patek Philippe (where sports watches are concerned, anyway). Throw in a conspiracy theory – there was a leak, a broken embargo, some uncharacteristically forthright words from company president Thierry Stern – and you can see how the Patek Philippe Cubitus collection became the hottest topic of the horological year (so far).

The top line: the Cubitus – Google it and you’ll learn that the word is also another name for part of the foreman, a happy coincidence for a wrist-bound portmanteau of ‘cube’ and ‘Nautilus’ – debuts with three 45mm watches (measured, like televisions, diagonally from eight o’clock to two o’clock).

There’s the ‘entry-level’ time-and-date Reference 5821/1A-001, with a steel case and olive-green dial (£35,330); the mid-tier time-and-date Reference 5821/1AR-001, with a blue dial and two-tone steel-and-rose-gold case (£52,480); and the range-topping Reference 5822P-001, with a day, date, moonphase and small second function, which has a blue dial and platinum case, denoted by a baguette-cut diamond at six o’clock (£75,690). 

Big news, then. But why such big news? Well, in 2021 Patek Philippe discontinued the Nautilus 571, possibly its most in-demand watch (ergo, one of the most in-demand of all watches), which was available with a blue dial, and, for a time, an olive-green dial (there was also the like-gold-dust, final-farewell Tiffany blue version). “We cannot put a single watch on top of our pyramid,” Stern explained to the New York Times at the time.

Ever since then, watch types have been wondering what would fill the void left by the Nautilus 571. We now have an answer, of sorts. A brand new collection that Patek Philippe will hope weans it off its Nautilus dependency and, with the Cubitus’ bold, angular case and in vogue sports-lux credentials, widen its appeal to younger, more style-led consumers.

Cubitus Reference 5821/1AR-001

The Reference 5821/1AR-001 is just 8.3mm thick

Leaked photos and is-it-real-is-it-a-hoax conspiracies aside, there’s also the simple fact that we’re talking about Patek Philippe. Top of the pile, primus inter pares, when it comes to luxury watchmaking. And, as the Rolls-Royce of watches, anything Patek Philippe does will be poured-over, scrutinised and critiqued to a far greater extent than the actions of a lowlier dial name. Any new collection is a judgement call on consumers, the market, the industry, and where a brand believes those things are heading. When it’s Patek Philippe making that call, consumers, the market, the industry takes notice.  

Above all, perhaps, the noise created by Cubitus owes simply to the fact that the watches do not, at first glance, look particularly like they belong in the Patek Philippe stable. Which is where it’s worth revisiting that Rolls-Royce analogy. Remember when you first saw the Cullinan, and you weren’t quite sure what to make of it? The SUV clearly shared DNA with Rolls-Royce’s more ground-hugging models, but still. It threw you. It was discombobulating seeing the Spirit of Ecstasy on something so big and brash and boxy. As with that svelte bonnet mascot, as with the hallowed dial name on the Cubitus collection.

Cubitus Reference 5822P-001

Cubitus Reference 5821/1A- 001

As everyone who’s seen the collection IRL has already said, the watches look much different in person (Mark Wahlberg posted a video that gives a good indication of what a Cubitus looks like on a real wrist). They wear smaller and softer than you’d glean from packshots. Patek Philippe’s fastidious attention to detail is in every facet and feature. Crucially, the watches are incredibly thin. The 5822P model stands just 9.6mm off the wrist, despite all those functions; the 5821 only 8.3mm. Undoubtedly the Cubitus sings from a different hymn sheet than the Nautilus and Aquanaut, even with all the obvious shared visual vocabulary. But it’s a tune you expect will convert many naysayers once they see the watch in the flesh.

You may remember that the Cullinan received a rough ride when it was first revealed, purists howling at how out of the place the Flying Lady looked on the bonnet of something with so much swagger. The bold-faced 4×4 has, in every year since it was released, been the marque’s best-selling model. Make of that what you will.

Cubitus Reference 5821/1A- 001

Case: steel with sapphire-crystal display back
Diameter: 45mm
Width: 44.5mm
Length: 44.9mm
Total height: 8.3mm
Dial: olive-green sunburst with horizontal relief embossing
Displays: hours, minutes and seconds/date at 3 o’clock

Price: £35,330, patek.com

Cubitus Reference 5821/1AR-001

Case: 18K rose gold and steel with sapphire-crystal display back
Diameter: 45mm
Width: 44.5mm
Length: 44.9mm
Total height: 8.3mm
Dial: blue sunburst with horizontal relief embossing
Displays: hours, minutes and seconds/date at 3 o’clock

Price: £52,480, patek.com

Cubitus Reference 5822P-001

Case: 950 platinum with sapphire-crystal display back
Diameter: 45mm
Width: 44.9mm
Length: 44.4mm
Total height: 9.6mm
Dial: blue sunburst with horizontal relief embossing
Displays: Hours and minutes/subsidiary seconds at 4:30/day indication at 7 o’clock/grand date at 12 o’clock/moonphase at 7 o’clock

Price: £75,690, patek.com

Read more: The best new watches for men in 2024