If you listen carefully, you can hear the faint cries of watch collectors around the world as the news is starting to sink in that Patek Philippe has indeed discontinued the 5711. Many are still in denial, attempting to brush it off as ‘just another rumor’. But I’m afraid, that it is indeed time to accept that not only does Patek not WANT to sell you a 5711, it now CANT sell you one either anymore.
Thierry Stern, CEO of Patek Philippe, has expressed his feelings about steel Patek Philippe watches in the past. Essentially stating that he does not want Patek to be selling massive amounts of steel wristwatches. He has repeatedly stated that precious metal is where the Patek game should be focused on. Perhaps, signalling the end of the quintessential steel Patek Philippe, the 5711 Nautilus. Its most popular steel watch.
That Patek Philippe does not want to sell massive volumes of the steel Nautilus is no surprise to anyone. Since many who actually wish to spend their hard earned money on a 5711 are put on a waiting list for several years before being able to actually own one. The dreaded waiting list. It is a rather perverse invention that the luxury watch industry has fully embraced as it has come to understand that a watch collector is more likely to buy and hype a watch if he’s not allowed to actually buy it in the first place.
The 5711 has just been shoved into involuntary retirement. Rumor has it that following its many years of loyal service, no flowers – not even a thank you card – were sent to our steel champ. Even worse, it seems the 5711 received word that it is being discarded for a younger, better, more functional Nautilus with bigger… case dimensions. And that is perhaps the silver lining to this story. Perhaps the 5711 will indeed receive an update shortly, preparing it for another epic run. Thereby giving the the watch collectors world wide a new and better unicorn to hunt. Part of the fun, after all, is the hunt (or is it).
The 5711 is no stranger to Thierry Stern’s stern management decisions. Indeed, the lovely white dial 5711 has seen first hand what it means to be in Thierry’s crosshairs… certain death! Or well, at least discontinuation. The 5711 white dial has been sent off to the history books this time last year. And now the 5711 chapter seems to have come to a close, with the blue dial now also having received its letter of resignation.
As they say, you never really own a Patek Philippe, you’re merely on the waiting list for one anyway. Were you on the waiting list for the 5711? Let us know in the comments!
Note: There is contradictory information circulating concerning this news at this moment in time. We have verified this breaking news with reliable sources, and connecting all the dots confirming the 5711 is indeed discontinued. We can not confirm the rumor of any new model or update.
Entertaining read and thank you for the added background story. The Stern puns were ‘gold’, I’m sure he would appreciate that 😉 You guys were key to confirm the white dial rumor last year, and now same thing for the blue dial! Cheers fellas