As the Nautilus was conceived as a bridge between a refined luxury piece and a functional tool watch, a bi-metal execution in gold and steel feels perfectly aligned with its design ethos.

This is an early 3700/1 in two-tone (steel and yellow gold) with the original blue dial. Production year is 1979, with its subsequent sale in 1980, placing it firmly within the first generation of Nautilus pieces. These examples, that denote /1 after the reference number, have a different bracelet construction (less tapered) and case maker. Both the bracelet and the case remain in very strong condition.

The AJ designation denotes the steel and yellow gold configuration. On this example, the bezel and center bracelet links are in yellow gold, with the outer links and case in steel. Interestingly enough the bicolor variants are rarer than full gold or steel examples, however are way more affordable than the afore mentioned.

The dial is the beloved horizontally embossed Nautilus dial from this era, not a service replacement part that one often encounters. The tone can vary depending on light, but it sits in the navy range. Applied hour markers with tritium -nicely aged- and matching hands. The datewindow and crisp white printing of the brand-name, minute track and "sigma Swiss sigma" truly stand out on the dark dial.

Inside is the caliber 28-255C automatic movement. This is based on the Jaeger-LeCoultre 920 ébauche, also used by Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin at the time. It’s ultra-thin, with a suspended rotor design, and is considered one of the more important automatic calibers of that period.

Comes with the extract of the archive.