Few human beings convey a sense of effortless cool quite like Sir Paul McCartney. After all, once you’ve written “Let It Be,” “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude,” and “Band on the Run,” you are officially an eternal steward of the zeitgeist and can do as you wish. McCartney, never one for flash, does allow himself one indulgence, however: A Patek Philippe Aquanaut.

The Aquanaut, by luxury watch standards, is as understated and classy as McCartney himself. Worn throughout the years to appearances on Carpool Karaoke, to Rolling Stone cover shoots, and to his own wedding, it’s a chameleon of a timepiece that manages to look impeccable without calling attention to itself. Earlier this month, McCartney once again saw fit to strap it to his right wrist—the Beatle is perhaps the world’s most famous southpaw, plucking his Hofner bass with his right hand—while attending his daughter Stella McCartney’s fashion show in Paris.

How exactly does the Aquanaut blend so well into any given sartorial scenario, you might ask? Unlike its Gérald Genta-designed sister model, the Nautilus, the Aquanaut lacks the famous integrated bracelet that traditionally defines a “luxury sports watch.” Rather, its embossed rubber strap—nearly as well known in horological circles as the watch itself—gives it a sportier look that balances the Patek-ness of it all. While we might opt for something dressier to pair with a wedding suit, the perpetually stylish McCartney has more than earned the right to buck convention as he pleases.

Conceptualized as a sort of young person’s luxury watch and released in 1997, the Aquanaut took much from the Nautilus. There’s the signature eight-sided bezel, along with a satin-brushed case that lends it a more ethereal sense of luxuriousness, a quality present in all of Genta’s designs. (The Aquanaut, it should be noted, is not a Genta design, but draws heavily from the Genevan maestro’s work).

All this to say: For a nearly $30,000 luxury watch, the Aquanaut is still one of the horological world’s best low-key grails. Unlike the many classically-inspired pieces in the Patek stable, it looks and feels modern, referencing ‘70s designs rather than those of the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. The result is a timepiece that feels distinctly of the moment—the “moment’ being the past 30 years. For a man like McCartney, who reinvented himself—and pop music—numerous times over a 60-plus-year career, it feels like the perfect choice.