Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Khaldoon Al Mubarak spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Manchester City Football Club and Managing Director of Mubadala Investment Company, was recently spotted with a Patek Philippe Aquanaut Ref. 5164 on his wrist — a watch that quietly signals both refined taste and a practical understanding of fine horology.

The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Ref. 5164, officially designated the Aquanaut Travel Time, is a considerably more complex proposition than its sibling the Ref. 5167. Powered by Patek's Caliber 324 S C FUS, an automatic movement with a 45-hour power reserve, the 5164 incorporates the manufacture's Travel Time complication, allowing the wearer to independently adjust a second time zone via pushers at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, while a day/night indicator confirms AM or PM at a glance. The case measures 40.8mm in steel, retaining the Aquanaut's signature octagonal bezel and embossed rubber strap — details introduced when Gerald Genta's spiritual successor debuted in 1997 as a more accessible, sportier counterpart to the Nautilus.

From a collector's perspective, the Ref. 5164 occupies an interesting niche. It delivers genuine complication depth — dual time zone functionality has real utility — without the auction-headline premiums of the Ref. 5726 Annual Calendar or perpetual calendar variants. That said, stainless steel Aquanaut references have followed Nautilus pricing trajectories in recent grey-market cycles, making the 5164 both a wearable tool watch and a quietly appreciating asset.

For Al Mubarak, the choice of the Aquanaut Ref. 5164 reads as entirely coherent. As a man who manages a Premier League club from Abu Dhabi, coordinates with City Football Group operations across a dozen countries, and moves between sovereign wealth strategy and football politics, the Travel Time complication is arguably more functional necessity than affectation. It is the kind of watch that performs without announcing itself.

At UK list price of approximately £27,000 — roughly $34,000 USD — the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Ref. 5164 sits well above entry-level sports watch territory. On the secondary market, demand for steel Aquanaut references has kept grey-market values meaningfully above retail, reflecting the enduring scarcity Patek Philippe maintains across its stainless steel sports references.