FLOAT 100 · Watches · No. 25

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5990/1A

In 2014 Patek Philippe retired its steel Nautilus chronograph and replaced it with a busier, cleverer watch for frequent fliers: a flyback chronograph with a second time zone, set by two pushers hidden in the Nautilus's famous porthole 'ears.'

Year: 2014-present
Maker: Patek Philippe
By price in watches: 36 of 100

Market asking price, not a sale · Oct 4, 2026$76,895This is not a sale. It is an asking price, and no transaction is recorded at this figure.

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Maker: Patek Philippe, Geneva
Reference: 5990/1A: the -001 with a black gradient dial (2014 to 2022), then the -011 with a blue sunburst dial (2022 to present)
Introduced: Baselworld, March 2014, replacing the steel Nautilus chronograph ref. 5980/1A
Functions: Flyback chronograph with 60-minute counter, Travel Time second time zone, day/night indicators for local and home time, pointer date tied to local time
Movement: Caliber CH 28-520 C FUS, self-winding, column-wheel chronograph
Case: Steel, 40.5 mm (10 to 4 o'clock), 12.53 mm thick, sapphire caseback
Price at launch: CHF 47,000; $57,300 preliminary U.S. price by one report, about $53,100 converted by another
Price now: $76,895 U.S. retail for the steel 5990/1A-011 in 2026
Siblings: Rose gold 5990/1R-001 (2021); the steel watch is the sporty core

A chronograph rebuilt for travelers

The Nautilus began in 1976 as Gerald Genta's steel sports watch, and for its first three decades its only complication was a date. Then, for the 30th anniversary in 2006, Patek Philippe relaunched the collection and added the first Nautilus chronograph, the ref. 5980. It used the new caliber CH 28-520, Patek's first self-winding chronograph movement developed and made in house, with a column wheel and a vertical clutch, and its dial could count elapsed time up to 60 minutes and 12 hours.

Eight years later Patek did something unusual with a successful steel watch. At Baselworld in March 2014 it discontinued the steel 5980/1A chronographs, including a white-dial version that had arrived only two years earlier, and replaced them with the ref. 5990/1A Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph. One launch report noted that the white-dial 5980/1A, made for just two years, had suddenly become a rare reference.

The new watch combined two existing Patek ideas. The chronograph came from the 5980. The second time zone came from the Aquanaut Travel Time ref. 5164A of 2011, whose 'FUS' module it borrowed. One account traces that mechanism's development back to a patent granted to Patek Philippe in 1959.

How the dial works

Four hands run from the center of the dial. The local hour and minute hands share the same baton shape, and the minute hand is a little thinner. The home-time hour hand is skeletonized so it reads as secondary, and a sword-shaped chronograph seconds hand reaches to the edge. When the second time zone is not needed, the home-time hand hides under the local hour hand.

Two small windows, at 9 and 3 o'clock, show day or night for local and home time. A circular subdial at 12 shows the date with a pointer, linked to local time so that it moves backward or forward with the traveler. The subdial at 6 is a 60-minute chronograph counter that also holds the Patek Philippe signature. To make room, Patek dropped the 5980's hour totalizer, so the chronograph can time events of up to 60 minutes only.

The cleverest part is on the left side of the case. On earlier Nautilus watches the protruding 'ears' were part of the bezel, which interlocked with the case sides. On the 5990/1A the ear at 9 o'clock is split into two pushers that jump the local hour hand forward or back in one-hour steps, with no need to unscrew the crown. Fitting those pushers forced Patek to abandon the traditional Nautilus construction for a conventional three-part case of bezel, middle and back. The chronograph pushers sit at 2 and 4 o'clock.

The caliber CH 28-520 C FUS

The movement is the CH 28-520 base with the Travel Time module added. It is self-winding with a 21K gold central rotor and runs at 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz), with a Gyromax balance and a Spiromax balance spring. Patek lists its power reserve at a minimum of 45 hours and a maximum of 55, and the movement carries the Patek Philippe Seal and is visible through a sapphire caseback.

It measures 31 mm across and 6.95 mm thick and is built from 370 parts with 34 jewels. Patek describes the complete watch as combining three sought-after complications: a self-winding flyback chronograph, a second time zone, and a date coupled to local time.

From black to blue

The first version, the 5990/1A-001, had a black brass dial with horizontal embossing and a gradient that darkens toward the edge, carried over from the 5980's industrial look. Its bracelet used the older Nautilus clasp with an extra fold-over latch. At launch Patek priced it at CHF 47,000, only a few thousand francs more than the steel 5980/1A. One report converted that to about $53,100, and another gave a preliminary U.S. price of $57,300.

In 2021 a rose gold version arrived, the 5990/1R-001 with a blue sunburst dial, which introduced an updated clasp with a built-in, tool-free adjustment system. In 2022 the black-dial steel watch was discontinued: by one account it disappeared from Patek's website by January 2022. A few months later steel returned as the 5990/1A-011, with a sunburst blue-gray dial, a black-gradient rim and the new clasp.

Prices rose steadily. A December 2023 buyer's guide gave the U.S. retail price of the 5990/1A-011 as $68,600, and in 2026 Patek listed it at $76,895. Like the rest of the steel Nautilus line, it has been hard to buy at retail, and both steel versions have traded on the secondary market well above their list prices. By the end of September 2026, one market tracker estimated a pre-owned -011 at about $143,000 and a discontinued black-dial -001 at about $111,000.

Telling the versions apart

Black dial with a gradient rim and the older latch clasp: the 5990/1A-001, made from 2014 to 2022. Blue-gray sunburst dial with a black-gradient rim, white gold applied baton markers with luminescent coating, and the newer adjustable clasp: the 5990/1A-011, made since 2022. Both have a 40.5 mm steel case measured from 10 to 4 o'clock and a screw-down crown.

Water resistance is one detail where sources disagree. Launch coverage in 2014 reported 120 meters, the same as earlier Nautilus generations. Patek's current page for the 5990/1A-011 lists 30 meters. Buyers should go by the papers and the maker's specification for the exact reference.

The numbers

Reference: 5990/1A-001 (2014-2022), 5990/1A-011 (2022-present)
Caliber: CH 28-520 C FUS, self-winding, 4 Hz, 370 parts, 34 jewels, 45 to 55 hours power reserve
Case: Steel, 40.5 mm (10 to 4 o'clock), 12.53 mm thick, sapphire caseback, screw-down crown
Water resistance: 120 m per 2014 launch coverage; 30 m on Patek's current page for the -011
Production: 2014 to present in steel; production numbers not disclosed

Timeline

1976
Gerald Genta's Nautilus debuts, with a date as its only complication.
2006
For the Nautilus's 30th anniversary, Patek introduces the first Nautilus chronograph, the ref. 5980, with the in-house caliber CH 28-520.
2011
The Aquanaut Travel Time ref. 5164A introduces the second-time-zone layout the 5990 would borrow.
2012
A white-dial steel Nautilus chronograph, 5980/1A, is added.
Mar 25, 2014
At Baselworld, Patek unveils the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph 5990/1A, replacing the steel 5980/1A.
2021
The rose gold 5990/1R-001 arrives with a blue sunburst dial and a new adjustable clasp.
Jan 2022
By this month the black-dial 5990/1A-001 has been removed from Patek's website.
2022
The steel watch returns as the 5990/1A-011, with a blue sunburst dial.
Dec 2023
U.S. retail for the 5990/1A-011 stands at $68,600.
Sep 2026
Patek lists the 5990/1A-011 at $76,895 in the United States.

The world in 2014

Feb 7, 2014
The Winter Olympics open in Sochi, Russia.
Mar 8, 2014
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard, disappears.
Mar 21, 2014
Russia formally annexes Crimea after a disputed referendum.
Apr 16, 2014
The South Korean ferry Sewol sinks, killing 304 people.
Jul 13, 2014
Germany beats Argentina 1-0 in Brazil to win the FIFA World Cup.
Jul 17, 2014
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard.

Price record

$10,000$100,000$1,000,000

Date	Price	Kind
Mar 2014	$53,100	Asking price, not a saleLaunch retail price of CHF 47,000, converted to about $53,100.
Mar 25, 2014	$57,300	Asking price, not a salePreliminary U.S. retail price at launch, 5990/1A-001.
Dec 2023	$68,600	Asking price, not a saleU.S. retail price of the 5990/1A-011.
Sep 2026	$76,895	Asking price, not a saleU.S. retail price of the 5990/1A-011 listed by Patek Philippe.
Sep 2026	$111,428	Estimate, not a salePre-owned market estimate for the discontinued black-dial 5990/1A-001.
Sep 30, 2026	$142,974	Estimate, not a salePre-owned market estimate for the 5990/1A-011.

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5990/1A is number 36 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (25 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

The two pushers that set the second time zone are disguised as the Nautilus's signature 'ear' at 9 o'clock, split down the middle.
To add those pushers, Patek had to give up the traditional Nautilus case construction for a conventional three-part case.
The 5990's chronograph can time only up to 60 minutes, because Patek removed the hour counter to make room for the date subdial.
When the 5990/1A replaced the 5980/1A in 2014, the white-dial 5980 it ended had been on sale for only about two years.
One account traces the Travel Time mechanism to a patent Patek Philippe was granted in 1959.
The date is linked to local time, so it can move backward as well as forward when a traveler changes time zones.

How this page is made

The figure: One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not: A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
The story: Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
Archive: Oct 5, 2026