Patek Philippe's Thierry Stern Explores 50th Anniversary Nautiluses and Other Rare Timepieces with Ben Clymer

An insightful conversation recently took place between Thierry Stern, the President of Patek Philippe, and Ben Clymer. The dialogue, conducted at Watches & Wonders 2026, offered a comprehensive glance at Patek Philippe’s 2026 novelties. Stern’s profound passion for the brand’s products, particularly the Nautilus’s 50th-anniversary pieces, was unmistakably evident. Stern believes in adopting counter-steps and has adopted an exercise in restraint with these anniversary Nautiluses, all limited-edition pieces stripped down to just hours and minutes.

Stern also ushered Clymer through Patek’s 5840P, colloquially known as the Cubitus’s first grand complication. A skeletonized perpetual calendar, its conception came early in the collection’s development but was intentionally laid aside. The reason for this restraint was Stern’s desire for the design language to land before the mechanics became complicated.

Stern touched upon the soaring interest in vintage Patek, driven by the astonishing $10,247,000 auction of the ref. 2523 at Phillips Geneva recently. Stern maintains an involving hand in all aspects of the brand’s pursuits, including the tracking of secondary prices and Patek Philippe Museum’s active retrieval of vintage pieces. Stern’s deep involvement with the brand extends beyond design, monitoring each watch journey long after it departs from Geneva.

When asked by Clymer about his personal pick from this year’s collection, Stern had a wealth of exceptional timepieces to choose from, including the anniversary pieces, the desk clock, the Cubitus grand complication, and more.