I have been delaying writing my review of the brand-new Patek Phillippe Cubitus. First, I was upset by all the social media trolling. Second, I hadn’t had the opportunity to see it yet. And third, I wasn’t sure what I thought about it. I needed time.
This often happens to me with music. I can hear a new song and instantly love it, humming along to the words I don’t know yet. Other times, I’ll listen to a few bars and skip to the next song. These songs may pop up in my playlist four or five times before I listen to the whole thing. I’m digressing, I know, but bear with me.
The songs I love straight off the bat are the ones that sound like everything else. They are reassuring and comforting; they have familiar riffs and melodies and that’s why I like them. The ones I skip, however, tend to be artistically more creative. What’s interesting is that I tire quickly of the tracks that sound like everything else and end up loving the more unique tunes.
The same is true of watches. If you immediately fall in love with a timepiece, it is probably because it reminds you of something you already know. When something is different, it takes time to grow on you. Take Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, for example, or Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore, and Chanel’s J12 – all these watches received the wrath of the watch world when they were first released, and look at them now gracing the pages of magazine articles and watch books on the subject of horological icons.
It was a whole month before I got to see the Cubitus in person, following an invitation to a presentation at the Patek Philippe Salons in Geneva. My first reaction was how much smaller it felt in reality than in photographs. My watches have XS straps so I am not the target audience here, but it sat surprisingly comfortably on my skinny wrist. What you also can’t see in the photos is just how thin the watch is – 9.6 mm – and this thinness makes all the difference for its comfort and wearability.
As its name would suggest, the Cubitus is square-shaped, with rounded corners, and features a dial adorned with a horizontal relief embossing, much like the Nautilus. It is being released in three different versions, each with its own style. The hero piece is the Reference 5288P which comes in platinum and offers an instantaneous grand date, day and moon phases, six patent applications filed, and a blue dial. The second is the Reference 5821/1AR-001 which is housed in a bi-color stainless steel and rose gold case with a blue sunburst dial, and last but not least, there is the Reference 5821/1A-001 in steel with an olive-green dial.
The mission of this new collection is to offer a reinterpretation of the “elegant sporty” style that has become so popular over the last few years. What is interesting is that the more you look at Cubitus, the more it grows on you! As our presentation was coming to a close, I noticed a Nautilus on the wrist of one of the Patek Philippe directors. It looked different, outdated almost, next to this new horological wonder. The Cubitus had successfully made its way into my “playlist” of watches.
It takes time to appreciate timepieces, involving so much more than just looking at a picture and jumping on social media. True appreciation requires engagement, contemplation, and time to allow thoughts and emotions to surface. It doesn’t always happen instantaneously, and when it doesn’t, take your time, because it could be the sign of a new love affair!
