"Nautilus is and always has been a unique combination of unbridled ambition and revolutionary design – the result of truly original ‘outside the box’ thinking that perfectly encapsulates the Bowers & Wilkins brand philosophy," the company states in the announcement.
"The dramatic Abalone Pearl finish is, of course, the perfect color for a 30th Anniversary – and it’s all-the-more appropriate since it’s also the color of the internal shell of the marine mollusc that inspired the Nautilus name."
That Nautilus is still the most visually arresting speaker available, even some 30 years after its introduction, is testimony to the remarkable, ground-breaking vision of both company founder John Bowers, who initiated the Nautilus project shortly before he passed away, and the lead engineer who would eventually deliver on that legacy, Laurence Dickie.
The idea behind the Nautilus was simple, but immensely challenging: ‘make a loudspeaker that doesn’t sound like a loudspeaker’. Armed with an exceptionally wide brief, no time constraints and few limitations related to practicality or cost, the Nautilus emerged almost as a concept car made reality, a radical five-year project to explore how many of the negative effects of the loudspeaker enclosure could be eliminated by innovative design.
The result was a revolution in loudspeaker engineering that introduced the concept of the exponentially tapered tube to loudspeaker design. The Nautilus tube would go on to win a Queen’s Award for Innovation and was just one of many breakthroughs developed for the Nautilus project that would subsequently influence all of the company’s future product design. Alongside the equally remarkable B&W 801, the Nautilus was a key element in elevating Bowers & Wilkins into the world’s leading audio brand.
30 years later, Nautilus is still built the same way. Ironically for a company that has taken the manufacturing of audiophile speakers to new industry standards of automated precision, building a pair Nautilus is a painstaking hand-built process. Simply building one speaker enclosure takes over a week – and that’s before any notions of sanding, painting or polishing each cabinet are involved. Small wonder that demand for Nautilus has consistently outstripped supply throughout its 30-year existence, with the waiting list for a new model currently standing at two years.
"While Bowers & Wilkins is committed to advancing the future of high-performance audio across all of our product portfolio, Nautilus remains of the highest importance to all of us. It readily communicates everything that is exceptional about Bowers & Wilkins and our no-holds-barred approach to creating the world’s best-sounding, most beautifully designed audio products," states Dave Sheen, Brand President of Bowers & Wilkins.
The B&W Nautilus can be ordered in three standard colors: Midnight Blue Metallic, Silver and Black. Bowers & Wilkins also offers a custom-finish service that will match the product's color to any reference the customer chooses at an extra cost.
www.bowerswilkins.com
