Debuting in 1997, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut was released to engage with a new kind of clientele - a younger, sportier, and trendier watch collector that was newly minted on the back of the dot.com stock market explosion. Released under the same premise as the Nautilus when it was released in 1976 – a trendy watch for a new clientele, the Aquanaut raised suspicions from Patek’s traditional collectors with its position as the first Patek to feature a rubber strap – something collectors saw as a cheap design option at the time. Following on from its debut, the Aquanaut has grown into a rather diverse collection of iconic and sought-after timepieces, with the reference we have here standing as one of the most desirable, the 18kt white gold ref. 5168G. While the latest generation of the Aquanaut was released in 2007 with an updated aesthetic, the ref. 5168G was launched in 2017 as a 20th-anniversary model. Merging the Aquanaut’s robust sports-oriented functionality with a luxurious 18kt white gold construction and Patek Philippe’s holy trinity finishing, the end result is a sports watch with very few equals. Pushing its elegant design to the limit, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut ref. 5168G features an 18kt white gold 42.2mm case, which houses a stunning blue dial with a subtle graduation from its bright blue center to a navy-black along its periphery with the Aquanaut’s signature horizontal embossing across its entire surface. An incredibly luxurious and wonderfully designed timepiece, the ref. 5168G indeed has it all.

Watch is in like condition, with very minor signs of use. Watch appears to have been seldomly worn.

Combining Patek's determination to create a genuinely capable sports watch with their fondness for luxurious watchmaking brings us the ref. 5168G - a maverick amongst Patek Philippe's rather conservatively styled timepieces with a blue rubber strap, a sleek integrated aesthetic, and a rather robust 120m water resistance.