Entrepreneur Virgil Abloh spotted wearing a Patek Philippe

Virgil Abloh was regularly photographed wearing members of the Patek Philippe Nautilus family, but the reference 3700/11J he owned occupies an entirely different stratosphere from the rest of the line. With fewer than 50 confirmed examples produced, this 18k yellow gold variant of the original Jumbo Nautilus is less a watch than a historical artifact — one that surfaces at auction only rarely and commands bidding wars when it does.

The Nautilus was born in 1976, conceived by Gérald Genta — the same designer responsible for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak — as a luxury sports watch that could justify a steel price tag higher than many gold dress watches of the era. The reference 3700 formed the entire first chapter of the Nautilus story. The 42mm integrated-bracelet case, the horizontally embossed dial, and the distinctive rounded octagonal bezel with its exposed screws defined the template that Patek Philippe still follows today. The 3700/11J brought that architecture into 18k yellow gold, paired with a champagne dial that suits the warm metal perfectly. Inside runs the calibre 28-255 C, an ultra-thin automatic movement measuring just 3.05mm — engineering that made the Nautilus's slim profile possible without compromise.

From a collector standpoint, the 3700/11J is in a class almost by itself. The far more common steel reference 3700/1A is already a benchmark vintage Patek, trading at multiples of its original retail. The yellow gold variant, with its tiny production run, is exponentially rarer. Documented examples are tracked carefully by specialists, and a clean, complete example — correct bracelet, original dial, matching paperwork — is the kind of piece that changes hands privately before it ever reaches a public sale room.

Abloh's relationship with horology was genuine and considered. He collected across multiple references and complications, and his Nautilus 3700/11J reflected both his eye for design history and his appreciation for objects that exist at the intersection of craft and cultural weight. Genta's Nautilus was, in many respects, a disruptor in its own moment — not unlike Abloh's own career trajectory.

The current grey-market valuation for a reference 3700/11J in this condition sits at approximately $500,000, a figure that underscores just how scarce and desirable this particular configuration has become.