For a watch manufacture that has hallmarked its illustrious history with prominent collections tied to various shapes, it was only apt that Patek Philippe follow this longstanding approach. Looking back, the Calatrava was the genesis of the approach in 1932 with its archetypal round case, while the Golden Ellipse of 1968 integrated the Golden ratio into its curved rectangular case. In 1976, Patek Philippe’s porthole-shaped sports watch, the Nautilus, redefined luxury watches, while the Gondolo of 1993 harked back to the Art Deco era. The Aquanaut and Twenty~4 from 1997 and 1999, respectively, were the two most recent new model launches for Patek Philippe, though that is about to change 25 years on with the launch of the Patek Philippe Cubitus.
As its name strongly suggests, the Cubitus is Patek Philippe’s interpretation of a square watch with rounded corners. While archival pieces in the Patek Philippe Museum had references to quadrangular-shaped watches, a square watch was missing from Patek Philippe’s contemporary portfolio. “A square watch was my number one target,” says Thierry Stern, President of Patek Philippe. “We didn’t have many of them in the collection and if you really want to have a complete collection, I think a square watch has to be part of your collection. The Nautilus definitely inspired me because it’s such a strong design that when I look at it, I asked myself if I could create something as strong as it, or even the Aquanaut collection, but in a square case.”
Cursory glances across the trio of watches naturally reveal similarities to the Nautilus with its embossed horizontal dial and the lug connector, but it was not until almost two years into the Cubitus’ design phase that the sketches veered towards the Nautilus. “We experimented with many different styles at the beginning, but I wasn’t satisfied because they were too thick. I would say after one or two years, that’s where we shifted the designs,” Stern remarked.
The Cubitus debuts with three iterations with the headliner, the Cubitus Instantaneous Grand Date, Day and Moon Phases Ref 5822P-001 in platinum flanked by the stainless steel Cubitus Ref 5821/1A-001 with an olive green sunburst and the two-tone stainless steel and rose gold Cubitus Ref 5821/1AR-001 with a blue sunburst dial. As the Cubitus Ref 5822P-001’s namesake suggests, the calendar elements of the Grand Date, Day and Moon Phase indicators jump instantaneously at midnight. Much of the genius lies in the Calibre 240 PS CI J LU, which was finetuned to this specification to allow for a slimmer watch profile. Had the calendar been geared in a more traditional and simple fashion, its thickness would have been thicker, resulting in a thicker watch that Thierry Stern dislikes.
Beneath the Cubitus’ straightforward appearance lies a highly technical setup which rivals that of grand complications, notes Patek Philippe Head of Development Philip Barat, which we will get to in a separate post. Case dimensions wise, it is a couple of hairs off a perfect square with its width (from 3 to 9 o’clock with crown) coming in at 44.9mm, length (across lugs) at 44.4 mm, and diameter (from 10 to 4 o’clock) at 45mm. While the numbers suggest a big and almost unwearable watch, it sits surprisingly well on a range of wrist profiles, as noted at the press session. Its 9.6mm thick case had a role to play as well; had it gone above that, it would have been a massive presence on the wrist. Like all the Patek Philippe platinum models, this timepiece has a baguette diamond set into the bezel at 6 o’clock.
The other two references are set in stainless steel cases with a matching bracelet save for the two-tone rose gold execution. The Ref 5821/1A-001 olive green version checks all the boxes of an elegant sports watch with alternating polished and vertical-satin-brushed finishing across the case and bracelet. Conversely, the two-tone stainless steel and rose gold Cubitus Ref 5821/1AR-001 features a hint of retro influence. While the case dimensions are similar to the platinum version, these two pieces are slimmer, coming in at 8.3mm.
Our reportage of the Patek Philippe Cubitus does not end here, as we will present Thierry Stern’s thoughts about the collection in greater detail in a separate post. Keep an eye out for that.
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