Patek Philippe Aquanaut

Reference guide: 5060

**Case diameter**: 35.6mm
**Movement**: caliber
330 SC
**Number of watches produced**: commonly thought to be 1000
**Years of production**: 1997 for 5060A, 1996 to mid 2000s for gold models

Photo credit: Lunar Oyster

Reference 5060A (steel)

Probably the most important Aquanaut reference and easily our favorite in the 5060 family. It was the first to introduce the “grenade” dial and it is the first watch ever made by Patek that came with a rubber/composite strap. Compared to later Aquanauts, it has a few unique features:

Solid caseback
“Nautilus” signed clasp
Cursive font on the date wheel

A beautiful 5060A, seen here with the popular khaki strap. Note that the lume plots often age a few shades darker than the hands on these early tritium Aquanauts. Photo credit: Fog City Vintage

@gongism on IG owns a beautiful 5060A. Look at that gorgeous "grenade" dial! Unlike most other 5060s we've seen, the font of its date wheel is similar to a 5066.

One of the unique features of the 5060 is its solid caseback. Photo credit: Fog City Vintage

Calatrava cross on the clasp, a feature that still exists on modern Aquanauts. Photo credit: Fog City Vintage

"Nautilus" signed clasp, a feature that's also unique to the 5060A. Photo credit: Fog City Vintage

5060A with its original store display. It must have been quite a shock for Patek customers when this watch came out in 1997! Photo credit: @johnreardon570

5060 PROTOTYPE, sold by Antiquorum for 401,000 CHF in May 2019. Photo credit: Antiquorum

Reference 5060J (yellow gold)

The 5060J actually preceded the birth of the Aquanaut range as it was launched as part of the Nautilus collection in 1996 as “ref. 5060S”. As such, it doesn’t have many of the model’s typical design features:

It doesn’t come with a rubber strap and is instead fitted with a more traditional black leather strap
The dial doesn’t have any “3D effect” and is instead more conservative with a flat surface and either roman numerals or stick indices

We have found a few different dial variations for this reference, with some watches having the reference “5060SJ” and being produced as late as the early 2000s.