Antonino Zichichi — watch collection

About Antonino Zichichi’s watch collection

Antonino Zichichi is one of Italy's most prominent theoretical physicists, a scientist whose career has spanned more than six decades of research into the fundamental forces of nature. Born in 1929 in Trapani, Sicily, he built much of his reputation through work at CERN in Geneva, where he contributed to experiments probing the structure of subnuclear matter. He founded the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily, an institution that has hosted thousands of scientists from across the world and helped shape generations of physicists. Beyond his research, Zichichi served for many years as president of the World Federation of Scientists, a role that placed him at the intersection of science, ethics, and global policy.

The Antonino Zichichi watch collection, as far as our cameras have been able to document, reflects the same preference for precision and structural integrity that defines his scientific work. He has been spotted wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus in white gold — specifically the reference 3711/1G, a model Patek introduced in 2004 as a deliberate return to the original Jumbo proportions of Gerald Genta's 1976 design. The 3711/1G is a relatively rare variant of the Nautilus line, produced in limited numbers and distinguishing itself from the more commonly seen stainless steel references through its 18-carat white gold case, which gives it a cooler, more restrained appearance.

For a physicist accustomed to working with instruments where design and function are inseparable, the Nautilus 3711/1G is a coherent choice. It is not a dress watch performing as a sports watch, nor the reverse — it occupies its own category with a degree of engineering seriousness that goes beyond aesthetics. The white gold reference in particular avoids the flashier connotations of yellow or rose gold, sitting closer in spirit to the original steel Nautilus. One watch in our database, but it is a considered one.