Nautilus 5712/1A (Moonphase, 2006-2025)

The Nautilus 5712 is the blue steel Nautilus with the uneven face. It has the family's rounded, eight-sided frame and integrated bracelet, but several smaller displays occupy the dial. One shows the date and moon phase, another counts the ordinary passing seconds, and a third tells the owner how much running time remains in the spring. Patek Philippe introduced it in 2006 as part of the Nautilus's thirtieth-anniversary revision.

Start with the two large hands: they tell the time normally. The small seconds circle is down to the right. Across from it, a larger circle carries dates around its edge, with a little hand pointing to the day of the month. A blue-and-gold moon display sits inside that circle. At the upper left, the final hand travels over a short scale as the watch's stored energy rises or falls.

The result is visibly unbalanced. The displays occupy different amounts of space and sit at different heights. The date circle removes several hour markers from the lower left of the dial, while the Patek Philippe signature has a relatively open patch to itself above the hands.

Turn to the back and there is another departure from the usual layout. Many automatic watches have a large semicircular weight sweeping over much of the movement to wind the spring. The 5712 uses a small gold weight recessed into the movement instead. This is the “micro-rotor” in descriptions of its calibre 240 PS IRM C LU. Putting that weight within the movement helps keep the complete mechanism under four millimetres thick, despite the calendar, moon and reserve displays.

That thin mechanism lets the watch retain a relatively shallow case. From the side, it does not immediately announce how much information is on the face. Turn it face up and the date, moon and running-reserve displays each occupy their own patch of the blue dial.