Dino944
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2011
- Messages
- 7,732
- Reaction score
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Another lazy, bullshit, overpriced design from the most has-been of has-been companies:
View attachment 1645998
In all seriousness, I didn’t really get this watch before. But learning more about the complexity of the case finishing and actually wearing it are instilling a far deeper appreciation.
I’ve been wearing my Daytona virtually daily for the past few months. It’s been an absolute joy in terms of comfort and tactility, but the experience also starkly contextualizes the greater refinement of the Aquanaut, which is substantially more comfortable due to being much thinner. It is almost surreal for a watch so sporty in character and wide in diameter to feel so flat on the wrist.
Woe unto me if I ever get a serious ding. This case is clearly a pain ********** to work with. As on my 5296, the bezel is a single piece with the mid case. Further, there are no straight lines—everything is at least slightly curved. Add to all that the mix of brushed versus polished surfaces and you have a case more difficult to finish than a Royal Oak’s. Plus, the polished areas are done by hand, as exemplified by the subtle roundness in the reflections.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, this watch absolutely needs to be handled and worn to be properly understood. In photos, I always thought it looked awkward and even a bit clunky. How wrong was I! In real life, the whole piece feels organic and pre-determined. Also, learning some added history didn’t hurt my appreciation for the looks. Rumor is that the Aquanaut was originally designed for use by officers in an unidentified Middle Eastern military, at the request of that country’s monarch. Patek will not confirm or deny.
The critical problem with the Aquanaut is that it is too preciously crafted for me to feel good about banging it around. It will take time to get comfortable treating this as a beater, even though that is the life it’s meant to have.
Congrats on your new watch! I never really understood the attraction to a rubber strap on a watch until I tried one on one of my watches. So I can definitely see it being a nice alternative and more comfortable than a steel bracelet in the summer. Plus one never has to worry about scratching a rubber strap and getting it polished. I've always favored the Nautilus, but I would find the rubber strap of the Aquanaut easier to wear as a beater or beach watch because I hate scratches. Congrats and enjoy it!