Which designer created the Patek Philippe Nautilus, launched in 1976?

Gerald Genta created the Patek Philippe Nautilus, launched in 1976.

Genta was a Swiss watch designer whose work strongly influenced luxury sports watches. The Nautilus used a distinctive rounded-octagonal case, inspired by a ship’s porthole, and became one of Patek Philippe’s best-known collections.

The Nautilus was not Patek Philippe’s first wristwatch, nor was it the first watch designed by Genta. He also designed the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, which appeared in 1972. The two watches are often compared because both helped establish the luxury steel sports-watch category.

The designer’s name is sometimes confused with the names of Patek Philippe founders Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe. They established the company, but Genta designed the Nautilus more than a century later.