Entrepreneur Virgil Abloh spotted wearing a Patek Philippe

Paris Fashion Week Menswear Spring/Summer 2020 was Virgil Abloh's stage in every sense — he was presenting his collection for Louis Vuitton — yet the most compelling detail on display was on his wrist. Abloh arrived wearing a vintage Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 3700 in 18K yellow gold with a black dial, a piece dating to approximately 1980 and carrying roughly four decades of patina.

The Nautilus 3700 is the original. Gerald Genta sketched the design in a single legendary night in 1976, drawing inspiration from a porthole and a diving helmet, and Patek Philippe launched it at the Basel fair that same year. The reference 3700/1 in stainless steel became iconic, but the yellow gold variant — produced in far smaller numbers throughout the late 1970s and 1980s — represents the top of the first-generation hierarchy. The integrated bracelet, the horizontally embossed dial, the octagonal bezel with rounded lugs: all of it remains unchanged from Genta's original sketch. The movement inside is the calibre 28-255 C, a slim automatic with a micro-rotor, chosen by Patek to keep the case profile as flat as possible.

For collectors, an early Nautilus 3700 in yellow gold with an untouched, fully patinated black dial is a serious object. The dial on these pieces — originally a warm dark grey — develops a complex character over decades that is nearly impossible to replicate and impossible to restore once lost. Condition and originality of the dial are the primary value drivers, and Abloh's example appears to show a beautifully aged surface consistent with an unpolished, single-owner history.

Abloh's presence in the watch world extended well beyond wearing exceptional pieces. On the same occasion he revealed that he had custom-designed a black DLC-coated Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726 — the Annual Calendar model — set fully with emeralds, produced as a personal gift for Canadian artist Drake. That commission alone signals a level of engagement with high horology that goes beyond celebrity accessorizing.

On the current grey market, first-generation Nautilus references in yellow gold command prices that would have been unthinkable even five years ago. A clean example of the 3700 in 18K yellow gold with original dial trades in the region of $175,000, a figure that reflects both the scarcity of the yellow gold production run and the relentless global appetite for first-generation Nautilus references in any metal.