Basketball player Kyle Kuzma spotted wearing a Patek Philippe

Kyle Kuzma, power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers and one of the NBA's most consistently well-dressed athletes off the court, was recently spotted on the wrist with what may be the single most difficult Patek Philippe to actually acquire at retail: the Nautilus 5711/1R in 18k rose gold.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1R shares the same Gerald Genta-designed case architecture as the steel 5711/1A — that distinctive horizontally embossed dial, integrated bracelet, and octagonal bezel with rounded corners — but executes it entirely in 18k rose gold. The dial presents a warm brown-gradient sunburst finish that interacts beautifully with the rose gold case and matching bracelet. At 40mm in diameter and just 8.3mm thick, the watch wears with surprising elegance for a sports reference. Inside sits Patek's Calibre 324 S C, a self-winding movement beating at 28,800 vph with a 45-hour power reserve, offering hours, minutes, seconds, and a date display. It meets the rigorous Patek Philippe Seal standard for both movement finishing and functional performance.

From a collector's perspective, the 5711/1R occupies a peculiar position. Where the steel 5711/1A became the reference point for an entire era of sports watch mania, the rose gold variant always played a quieter, more genuinely exclusive role. Production numbers were substantially lower, and the clientele tended to be established collectors rather than first-time buyers riding hype. Now that Patek has discontinued the entire 5711 line — replaced by the 5726A and ultimately the new Nautilus generation — all 5711 references have been recontextualized as closed chapters, and the rose gold 1R reads as the rarest page in that chapter.

Kuzma's taste in watches has been well-documented: he has appeared publicly in Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks, Richard Mille complications, and high-end Rolex references. The 5711/1R, however, signals a collector moving beyond status signaling into genuine connoisseurship — the rose gold Nautilus is bought by people who already own everything else.

On the secondary market, the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1R has traded at significant premiums since the 5711 discontinuation announcement in 2021. Grey-market values have moderated from their 2021-2022 peaks but remain firmly above the original list price, reflecting the reference's permanent production closure and enduring desirability among serious collectors worldwide.