Aquanaut prices are all over the place, depending on what you’re looking at. The steel ones (like the 5167A) usually start around £35,000-45,000 in the pre-owned market, though that changes based on condition and what’s available. Rose gold versions are priced around £60,000-90,000, give or take. White gold and anything with complications can easily go over £100,000. The travel time model in steel (5164A) is particularly hard to find and sells for more than you’d expect when one actually turns up. Prices move around with the market, so it’s worth checking what we’ve got right now rather than going off old numbers. Have a look at our current collection or pop by the boutique, and we’ll show you what’s actually available.
Both, really. That’s kind of the whole point. It’s water-resistant to 120 metres, has a screw-down crown, and sits on a rubber strap that’s genuinely comfortable for swimming. So yes, sports watch. But the finishing, the movement inside, the fact that it’s Patek Philippe, that keeps it firmly in the luxury territory. That versatility is exactly why everyone wants one.
Unless you really know what you’re looking at, it’s tricky. There are things you can check, such as whether the case finishing is perfect, with no rough edges or sloppy polishing. The dial printing should be crisp. The strap pattern should be sharp and consistent. But counterfeits are getting out of hand. The movement, however, is really where the truth lives. Real Patek movements are finished to a level that’s hard to fake convincingly. But you need to know what you’re looking for. If you’ve got an Aquanaut and want to be absolutely sure it’s real, bring it to our Knightsbridge boutique. We’ll have a look at it for you. We’ve authenticated hundreds of these, so we know what genuine looks like versus the very good fakes that are out there.
Keep it somewhere cool and dry, away from anything magnetic. A watch box or a safe works fine. Just not sitting in direct sunlight. If you’re not wearing it regularly, it’ll stop after a couple of days; that’s completely normal for automatics. When you want to wear it again, just wind it manually (10-15 turns of the crown) and set the time.
