Watch Paparazzi

Musician DJ Alesso spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Swedish DJ Alesso turned up in the pages of Dagens Nyheter — one of Scandinavia's most-read broadsheets — with a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5712/1A-001 clearly visible on his wrist. The setting, a mainstream national newspaper rather than a dedicated watch publication, speaks to how deeply luxury horology has embedded itself in contemporary music culture.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5712/1A-001 builds on Gerald Genta's seminal 1976 Nautilus design by layering serious complication onto the integrated-bracelet sports-watch format. Beneath the horizontally embossed blue-grey dial sits calibre 240 PS IRM C LU — a self-winding movement just 3.88mm thick, built on Patek's celebrated 240 ultra-thin micro-rotor base. It delivers an annual calendar, moon phase, instantaneous power-reserve display, and subsidiary seconds. The 40.5mm stainless steel case retains the distinctive octagonal bezel, signed fold-over clasp, and polished-and-brushed finishing that define the Nautilus family.

Within the collector community, the 5712/1A occupies a nuanced position. It is widely regarded as the intellectually satisfying choice in the Nautilus lineup — more horologically ambitious than the three-hander ref. 5711 (now discontinued) and more wearable than the perpetual-calendar ref. 5740. Production numbers have always been tightly controlled by Patek Philippe, and steel references consistently command waiting lists and grey-market premiums. The 5712 in steel has proven particularly resilient in secondary-market valuations precisely because complication adds genuine utility without sacrificing the clean aesthetic the Nautilus is known for.

Alesso — born Alessandro Lindblad in Gothenburg — rose to global prominence through festival headline slots and collaborations with artists including Calvin Harris and One Republic. With a career centred on European and American club circuits, he represents a generation of electronic music figures who have adopted serious watchmaking as a natural extension of their aesthetic identity. Appearing in Dagens Nyheter, a newspaper that rarely dwells on luxury goods, the sighting carries an understated quality entirely appropriate to the watch itself.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5712/1A-001 carries a UK retail price of approximately £23,000. In the grey market, demand for steel Nautilus references with complications routinely pushes prices well above list, with the 5712/1A trading in the $45,000–$60,000 range depending on condition, box, and papers — a premium that reflects both Patek Philippe's constrained supply and the model's enduring desirability.