Watch Paparazzi

Television presenter Ellen spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Ellen DeGeneres stepped back into the public eye for the return of The Ellen Show wearing one of the most recognisable — and most sought-after — wristwatches on the planet: the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010 in stainless steel with its signature blue horizontal-embossed dial. It is a choice that speaks volumes about where the Nautilus sits in popular culture today, equally at home on the wrist of a seasoned collector or a television personality dressing for the cameras.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010 traces its lineage directly to Gérald Genta's 1976 original, the ref. 3700, which made the audacious argument that a steel sports watch could command a luxury price. The 5711 generation, introduced in 2006, refined that proposition with a 40mm stainless steel case, the distinctive porthole-shaped integrated bracelet, and an in-house calibre 315 SC automatic movement offering roughly 45 hours of power reserve. The blue sunburst dial — applied gold baton indices, luminous hands — remains one of the most replicated aesthetic signatures in watchmaking, yet nothing matches the real thing.

Among collectors, the 5711/1A-010 occupies near-mythical status. Patek Philippe officially discontinued the reference in January 2021, sending secondary market values into the stratosphere virtually overnight. Waiting lists at authorised dealers had already stretched to years; after discontinuation, the grey market reacted immediately and dramatically. The watch became a cultural shorthand for unobtainable luxury, discussed in financial pages as much as horological ones.

Ellen DeGeneres has long been associated with understated but serious luxury. A presenter of her calibre choosing the Nautilus 5711/1A-010 rather than a flashier diamond-set piece is a knowing move — the blue dial reads as quietly confident on camera, and those who recognise it understand exactly what they are looking at.

At retail, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010 carried a list price in the region of $34,893 USD before discontinuation. On today's grey market, the reference routinely commands multiples of that figure, with clean examples in full set regularly changing hands between $130,000 and $180,000 USD depending on provenance and condition — a testament to how completely demand has outstripped supply.