Well these two always evoke a polarised response; love or loathe. Incredibly beautiful and yet with a turn of their head or change of light, somehow strangely ugly at the same time. One thing is for sure, they are at least, balanced, striking and unique and you only have to look at a derivative design like the G.P. Laureato to realise they are something that is a good design even if you don’t like it. I actually prefer the Nautilus shape, but not with one of the worst dials in Patek's history - Roman numerals and the silly power reserve, what were they thinking. Yuk... A dateless baton marker only version please or at least white letters on black background for the date. As for the R.O., well dark dial only for me and I'm still not happy about that Nylock style crown, so really the choice is Royal Oak Jumbo, a winner by submission and not a knockout.

Choose between 2 inimitable classics, both from the same designer?
It’s a choice better befitting King Solomon himself. But for me it is not too difficult…Of course, both models have undergone subtle changes in the course of years, with slight alterations of dial and other proportions, and in the case of the RO, a large number of new models have been built upon the same RO theme. Nevertheless, for me the Patek Philippe wins hands down: ultra-modern and ultra classic in the same instant.
One of the most irritating aspects of the RO for me is the big crown, which in my opinion seems to stick out like a sore thumb, just asking to get caught on that expensive, newly purchased cashmere sweater. A visual problem is that there are just too many corners on the damn thing: visually uneasy and impractical too. Almost every RO that I have seen which is worn on a daily basis looks like scratch city after a year: dings galore on corners everywhere. The RO also has a rather ugly sharp edge where the case angle meets the strap section; it functions as yet another sharp corner for scratches, besides being quite stumpy looking. On a 1 to 1 basis, the entire Nautilus case is just perfectly harmonious in comparison. (Agreed, the Naut’ is also prone to scratches, but much less so than the RO. Moreover, for me anyway, the entire Naut’ case just fits me better).
Negative about the Nautilus was the move to Roman numerals, this was a BIG mistake and is unbelievably ugly. Look closely at the PR photos and it is painful to see how the numerals have been scrunched and pushed into positions where they just don’t belong at all. If you look closely at any original Nautilus with Roman numerals, it looks like the guy putting the numbers on was drunk. No wonder the early versions with simple indexes still fetch high prices at the auctions. The ‘running comet’ style power reserve construction is a patented Patek Philippe novelty from a few years back, certainly nice looking, but many owners still are not quite sure how to read when the indicator is showing that the power is really getting too low. For the rest it is a jewel, and we will be seeing more Nautilus variants next year at Basel 2006 when the real (but unmentioned and silent) Genta anniversary is celebrated by Patek. The 2005 Nautilus was simply a preview on some new plans to come.
Last but not least: the RO strap is for my taste too lightly built, tapering to a small width near the clasp. The Nautilus strap feels nicer against the skin, and just fits better too.