Watches are the ultimate status symbol for the rich. They are associated with Royalty and Nobility. The first element of a luxurious watch is parts fitted inside and outside the watch dial. Some watchmaking brands have gone beyond our planet and create watches with Moon-rocks, Meteorites, and even a piece of land from Mars.
The second factor determining the value of a luxurious watch is the number of hours used to make that one particular timepiece and the craftsmanship level. All these are known as “Complications” in watchmaking terminology.
Today we will talk about one of the 17 most expensive watches in the world. So let’s get started!
#1 The Graff Diamonds Hallucinations
Price: $55 Million
Valued at a staggering $55 million, this diamond-decked timepiece from Graff is genuinely one of a kind. This timepiece is made from 110 carats of colored diamonds. Because the diamonds are naturally colored, the price tag is significantly higher than a white diamond.
With so many naturally colored diamonds, the watch creates a vibrant rainbow effect. Most diamond watches have a white baguette and round-cut diamonds, but Graff decided to change that trend.
This watch is a blend of heart, pearl, emerald marquise, and round diamonds to make this watch a thing of beauty. This timepiece is a masterpiece of watchmaking and elegance.
#2 The Graff Diamonds Fascination
Price: $40 Million
We have another on this list from Graff. The luxury watchmaking didn’t stop after making the Graff Hallucination. In 2015 they created Fascination. This high-end watch comes with whopping 152 carats of a premium colorless diamond.
The timepiece also has an elegant pear-shaped diamond in the center. The center doubles as either a dial or a (detachable) ring. Now, this is something truly luxurious.
#3 The Breguet 1160
Price: $30 million
Breguet watches have a long history, which dates back to the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette. According to history, Marie Antoinette was a massive admirer of Breguet watches and had of collection of Breguet timepieces herself. Unfortunately, because of the French Revolution, she wasn’t able to take ownership of this timepiece.
The piece was incomplete in her lifetime and was completed somewhere around 1827 after her death. Swatch Group, who took over the company in 1999, ordered to reproduce this timeless masterpiece from the Breguet archive drawings. The watch was completed in 2008.
#4 Jaeger-LeCoultre Joaillerie 101 Manchette
Price: $26 million
Given to Queen Elizabeth II on her Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years on the throne. This bracelet watch includes 576 diamonds, a gray sapphire face, and some of the most miniature watch complications ever assembled.
#5 Chopard 210 Carat Watch
Price: $26 million
Originally a diamond bracelet with a watch connected, this Chopard class combines three heart-shaped diamonds. One is a 15-carat pink, a 12-carat blue, and an 11-carat white—plus added 163 carats of white and canary diamonds.
#6 Patek Philippe Supercomplication
Price: $24 million
In 1925, American Henry Graves Jr. was determined to commission and create the world’s “most complex timepiece” from Patek Philippe. Cash was no object. The resulting pocket timepiece, which was not completed until 1932, had 24 complications that would move into legend—getting $24 million when it came up for auction in Switzerland in 2014.
#7 Jacob & Co. Billionaire Watch
Price: $18 million
A quartz timepiece with a 260-carat, blinged-out chain of emerald-cut diamonds (including a few of 3 carats each). This Jacob & Co. art was bought from Takashi Fukushima by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who keeps a closet full of Hermès Birkin handbags and a Rolls Royce Phantom.
#8 Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona
Price: $17.75 million
Proving that origin matters as much as brand name, performer/race car driver Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona, a present from his wife Joanne Woodward in the 1960s, got over $17.75 million in an auction in 2017.
#9 Patek Philippe 1518
Price: $11.1 million
Only four of these timepieces were released by luxury watchmaking brand Patek Phillipe. King Farouk once owned this exclusive. When this watch came up for auction in 2016, watch collectors from every part of the world wanted this classic.
This timepiece was sold for a whopping $11.1 million. The watch is made of steel and not the usual yellow or pink gold. Patek Phillipe 1518 has 20 complications, and the modern versions can more than $300,000
#10 Vacheron Constantin 57260
Price: $8 million
Vacheron Constantin 57260 pocket features a vast 57 complications, which is rare in this model. The watch also features a double retrograde split-second chronograph. This elegant timepiece claims to be the most complex watch ever made.
#11 PATEK PHILIPPE REF. 1527
Price $5.7 MILLION
In 1933, Patek Philippe joined his place in history by creating one of the most complex watches by hand for henry graves. Not much is known about the timepiece, but it is one of the two Ref. 1527 timepieces. The first Patek Philippe watch now remains in the Patek Phillipe Museum in Switzerland.
The second Ref. 1527 watch features a chronograph, unlike the first, unsold one. This watch records time through a 30-minutes register. PATEK PHILIPPE REF. 1527 has three subsidiary faces and a tachymeter system on the outer rim. It has a 5-minute partition on the silver-matte face with gold Arabic numbers.
#12 PATEK PHILIPPE GRANDMASTER CHIME –
Price $31 MILLION
A lot of Patek Philippe timepieces remain modest and understated in shape despite highly complex inner workings. But the brand-new 5303R puts much of its meticulously decorated mechanics on appearance. Including some of the most sophisticated complexities, it joins a minute repeater and a tourbillon — not to mention skeletonization and design.
#13 Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chrono
Price: $142,000
Bulgari’s 2020 releases include a timepiece that requires the particular title of the thinnest chronometer to combine a tourbillon and monopusher chronograph. With automated winding on top of it all, that’s a lot to compress into a movement that’s only 3.5mm dense. And a sandblasted, titanium cover that’s only 7.4mm thick — so this took remarkable severe design.
Those peculiarities alone might not yield a startlingly expensive watch. But skeletonizing the face and movement only adds price and complexity to the whole process.
#14 Patek Philippe Grand Complication 5303R
Price: On Request
A lot of Patek Philippe timepieces remain modest and understated in shape despite highly complex inner workings — but the brand-new 5303R puts much of its meticulously decorated mechanics on appearance. Including some of the most sophisticated complexities, it joins a minute repeater and a tourbillon — not to mention skeletonization and design.
#15 Urwerk UR-100 Gold
Price: $60,000
The UR-100 is the Swiss brand’s entry-level design, but its newest iteration is presented in 18k gold. It might not be as massive, complex, or costly as some of Urwerk’s other models. Still, it emphasizes the brand’s entirely original aesthetic and its trademark complication.
#16 Purnell Escape II
Price: ~$475,000
Purnell’s little-known watchmaker launched a watch which it calls “the world’s fastest dual Spherion,” a type of spherical tourbillon. “Regular” tourbillons are immensely complicated, demand highly specialized skill to design, and require a fortune.
The triple-axis tourbillons like Purnell’s compound the complexity — and here, there are two of them. The tourbillon cages turn on their axes at different rates — add to that the colorful highlights of the dial and advanced carbon covers.
