Hands On With The ICONIC Royal Oak & Nautilusi.

It is just not every day that you get to actually go hands-on with an original Royal Oak. I mean, this watch is unbelievable. It's a history lesson. I mean, and you don't really understand the brilliance of the watch until you get this close to one. If you like Patek Philippe, if you like Audemars Piguet, if you like history, then this episode is for you because I've got two amazing watches here. One Royal Oak and one Nautilus that are not very far apart in age, but so far apart in evolution. So today's episode is going to be about these two watches, starting off with the Royal Oak because the Royal Oak did predate. I'm sorry. Yes. No, I'm right. What the heck? Wait for it. The Royal Oak, of course, predated the Nautilus. Royal Oak being introduced in 1972, the Nautilus in 1976. But the original Royal Oak and the original Nautilus, the reference 5402 and 3700, were different watches, of course, but fundamentally so similar. The Royal Oak at 39 millimeters was a jumbo. The Nautilus, the 3700 at 42 was a jumbo, most famously made in stainless steel, black or dark blue dials. These watches were fundamentally similar. Of course, they came from the same designer, right? Mr. Gerald Genta, a legend of Swiss watchmaking. While that was the inception of these two watches, the collections evolved and they've evolved so much until today, of course, because now we have a multitude of different variations of Nautilus and Royal Oak from both brands. But in just such a short period of time, the watches changed. The Nautilus I have here is not a reference 3700. This is a reference 3800, the successor to the 3700 that was released not very much long after the original Nautilus. Again, original Nautilus in 1976, 3700 in 1981, officially hitting the market in 1982, so very shortly thereafter. But the watch was, two things happened, but really one fundamental idea. The watch was made, the watch's original idea to be irreverently casual and elegant, but sporty changed. Patek Philippe said to the world, okay, okay, okay. What if we compromise with you a little bit and introduce this Nautilus in something that was a little bit more traditionally luxurious, a smaller, more elegant size, a daintier watch, something that was more reminiscent of the past, even offered in more precious metal, also two-tone, which I believe was the most popular of the metals. Now, what's funny, a fun fact about the 3800, the successor to the 3800, is that the 3800 at the time of its release was actually more expensive than the 3700, which of course has grown to just become one of the most collectible wristwatches in all of history. The 3800 is no slouch either, of course, this is an amazing watch, but the retail prices at the time of release were a few hundred dollars off. The 3800 was about $3,000 flat, whereas the 3700 was something like $2,800, $2,840, I believe. It's pretty interesting. Anyway, back to the watches themselves, let's start taking a look and getting my thoughts and your thoughts on the designs themselves. I am immediately struck by the beauty and the imposing size of the original jumbo Royal Oak, this being the first reference. I mean, the condition, first of all, on this example is unbelievable. Whoever sourced this watch at London Jewelers did a magnificent job because the condition is just gorgeous. It's so sharp. Of course, you're not going to cut yourself, but the original design and its point was to make you as so you could theoretically cut yourself, okay? It's absolutely beautiful. The beauty, the brilliance of the Royal Oak was this balance, this juxtaposition of industrial design and elegance, right? Hard line, sharp edges, and ultra-thin profile. Something that had never been done before, something that was absolutely brilliant, and this example just exemplifies that really, really well. Now, I personally am a huge fan of the Royal Oak, particularly these ultra-thins. Now, it had never even occurred to me that someone could find these watches too aggressive, too industrial. Now, I think that those opinions, which do come out now and again, these are bold, polarizing designs. Gerald Genta knew that when he designed them back in 72. It didn't even occur to me that this could be the case. And yet, of course, we walked back into history. The watch was not immediately accepted. It has been accepted, I mean, it was shortly thereafter accepted, but it has been accepted since by collector circles because people understand the brilliance. But that's like so many things, isn't it, right? You don't appreciate some certain truly remarkable things until you can understand them truly, right? Not everything is surface-level, obvious, amazing, right? Not everything is salty, buttery popcorn. Some things take contemplation, consideration, right? You don't really appreciate a truly fine steak maybe until you meet the butcher, right? Or whoever fed the cows, right? It requires education, right? History. So anyway, I think that these watches are absolutely fantastic. I think that the case designs are brilliant. But clearly, I'd like your thoughts. Do you like the Royal Oak or do you prefer its more streamlined younger brother in the Nautilus? And more specifically, do you like the 3800? Because I love this watch. I think it's unbelievable. I think, particularly in this size. And these watches, these 3800s, look so much smaller than the 3700s, the original Jumbos, in part because they are. I mean, the 3800 is 37 and a half millimeters. Its predecessor is 42 millimeters. It's huge. It's bigger than the Royal Oak. But I think that these watches are fabulous. I actually do think they're undervalued. Not quite underappreciated because everyone knows about this watch and everyone loves it. But undervalued, I do think a bit, particularly in dual metal. Because dual metal hasn't been that popular, again, for very long. Dual metal was looked at as somewhat cheesy for a very long time. And I think that the larger cultural opinion was always incorrect. And now it's sort of corrected itself. But again, the same design principles remain. You've got ultra thin with a sporty, you know, again, a sporty design with an ultra thin elegant profile. I think it's fabulous. This Royal Oak and this Nautilus have so much in common, right? Their genesis, their designer, the theory, the design theory, everything is so similar. The brands are so similar. And yet they couldn't be more different. They're not even very far apart in age. And yet they couldn't be more different. So I'd love your thoughts down below. Do you like these watches? Which do you prefer? Do you think that dual tone is tasteful and elegant? I know that I certainly do. And if you want to have a look at one or either of these watches, certainly come over here to London Jewelers Americana Manhasset, their temporary store while they're renovating this incredible boutique. Just a stone's throw away is next to Cipollini. So grab a cocktail and a piece of pizza or a pizza after you enjoy some shopping. The watches here are unbelievable. Their vintage selection, their Rolex CPO selection, and of course, all the new stuff. Unbelievable. Come have a look.