Patek Philippe Nautilus / Grand Complications

The Nautilus is the watch that turned a stainless steel sports watch into the most coveted object in watches. When Gerald Genta designed it in 1976, a luxury steel watch from a gold-and-dress-watch house like Patek was almost heresy. The porthole case, the rounded octagonal bezel, and the horizontally grooved dial were instantly recognizable then, and you can still spot one across a room now. The steel 5711 became the definitive hype watch before Patek discontinued it in 2021, sending secondary prices into six figures. Today the line runs through white gold, rose gold, and chronograph versions, with waitlists to match. Fifty years on, it's still the watch that rewrote the rules.