Watch Paparazzi

Football manager Andrea Pirlo spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Andrea Pirlo, one of football's most elegant midfielders turned manager, was photographed wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010 — a piece that has become as recognizable in luxury watch circles as Pirlo himself is in football. The sighting coincided with his high-profile move from Juventus FC to New York City FC, a transfer that kept him firmly in the spotlight.

The Nautilus 5711/1A-010 houses Patek Philippe's calibre 324 S C, a self-winding mechanical movement beating at 28,800 vph with a 45-hour power reserve. The dial on this reference is the iconic blue sunburst — a horizontally embossed surface that shifts subtly under light — framed by the 40mm stainless steel case and integrated bracelet that Gerald Genta originally sketched on a napkin in 1972. Case thickness sits at just 8.3mm, making it a remarkably slim sports watch despite its bold presence.

The 5711/1A-010 succeeded the 5711/1A-001 as the standard-bearer of the Nautilus line, and when Patek Philippe discontinued it in January 2021 — replacing it with a Tiffany Blue variant in extremely limited numbers — demand exploded. What had been a watch trading at two to three times retail on the secondary market briefly climbed to five or six times. Even today, years after discontinuation, finding a clean example at anything close to a reasonable price requires patience, connections, or both. It is one of the clearest examples in modern horology of a manufacture creating scarcity through discontinuation.

Pirlo's taste in watches has long leaned towards the serious end of the spectrum. The Nautilus suits his public persona — he has always projected calm authority rather than flash, and the 5711 is precisely that kind of watch: expensive and deeply respected, but not loud. It reads as the choice of someone who knows exactly what they are wearing and why.

At its original retail price of approximately $34,000 USD, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010 was already a significant acquisition. On today's grey market, clean examples with full box and papers routinely change hands between $80,000 and $110,000 USD, with exceptional examples commanding more. For collectors, it remains a benchmark piece — and for anyone spotting it on a wrist, a reliable signal that the wearer takes horology seriously.