Something Small and Astronomically Expensive? You Need a Watch

Aug 03, 2006

Have you ever asked yourself, how much could the most expensive watch cost? 20,000 dollars? – The answer is NO. Even $ 50,000 and $ 100,000 would not be near the actual number.
The most expensive watches are all estimated like works of art, like masterpieces of those great artists and painters like Van Gough or Picasso. And why not treat watches as some of them deserve – like works of art?
Yes, some might say that this is illogical to give bags of money for one single watch, yet the true connoisseurs are not sorry for hundred thousand dollars paid for a masterpiece, whether it is a timepiece or a piece of art.
The making of a good watch is truly art, because when you look inside of that watch you won't understand everything what is going on under that shining case and despite that it shows the time and all other possible things. There are many pieces which complete each other; these pieces work all together as one team, as one single mechanism. This mechanism is like a good football team, where all the players are performing a good team-work and not displaying individual skills. The same thing is with a watch: if one piece was missing the whole team would fall apart.
Thus the watch makers are not doing it hastily, they take their time and do their job as if it were the last job they were doing.

Swiss – Is That Good?

In 2005 there was published a list of 12 most expensive watches of the world and some people can't possibly imagine how expensive they really are. These prices are not any bids at an auction, since they are manufacturer's prices; this means that they estimate their work in a price that looks like a phone number. In 2006 there hasn't been any list created, at least not yet, so this article will contain the list of most expensive watches from the end of the last year.
In that list all twelve watches are made by Swiss watchmakers and only two of them were founded in the 20th century, moreover in the mid nineties. That is a piece of statistic to show what a Swiss made watch means.

The Best of the Best

The first on this list is the Tour de l'Ile from Vacheron Constantin, the Swiss watch maker founded in 1755. This timepiece is a unique watch, which was seven years developed and then three years assembled. In 2005 this watch marked the 250th watchmaker's anniversary. Tour de l'Ile is probably the busiest watch in the world, as it has 834 separate pieces and 16 complications inside (including tourbillon, power reserve, striking-mechanism torque, moon phase, sunrise and sunset time, perpetual calendar, sky chart and many other features too impress with). Its price was 1.5 million US dollars and you can be sure that the watch enthusiasts won't hesitate to write out a check for this money.

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The second on the list is a Blancpain watch bearing the foundation's year as its name – 1735. This timepiece is for the second year in a row on this place. The ultra-slim 42 mm platinum case incorporates 740 separate pieces, of which only 18 are of a limited run. The perpetual calendar, minute repeater, split-second chronograph, tourbillon and moon phase are the 5 of 6 complication. According to the Swatch Group (the owner of Blancpain) the ultra-slim case is a complication itself. There were only 30 watches assembled and it didn't last only one year for sure. The price for the 1735 Blancpain was $ 839,000 (though in 2001 its price was 1 million dollars).

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The "Bronze" goes to Girard-Perregaux's Opera Three with over $ 300,000 gap between the second and the third place. The Opera Three could be bought for $ 532,000. In this company of extraordinary watches it has almost everything other timepieces also have, though there is one 'but': the watch is able to signal the hours not with a beep, chime or gong, but with real tunes. These tunes are played thanks to a miniature music box, which has 20 blades and a drum spotted with 150 hand-mounted pins. The owner of this watch can choose between 2 tunes to match his taste. The wearer can also disable the music playing by using the lever to disconnect those tunes entirely or play them upon demand.

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The fourth in the list of lucky ones landed the Toric Corrector Quantième Perpétual from Parmigiani Fleurier, one of the two Swiss watchmakers founded at the end of the 20th century (1996). It is also a sophisticated mechanism watch with a series of complications, as showing day, month, leap year, retrograde date and the precise moon phase. The subdials do their job with the complications, while the "javelin" hands keep the time running. The extravagant thing in this watch is its ability to correct all of its calendar functions with just one push of the button. The Corrector has also a minute repeater function and its power reserve lasts 45 long hours. The timepiece is available in a limited edition of six in two variants: 950 platinum for $ 477,000 or in 18-karat pink gold for $ 346,000.

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The next work of art is Roger Dubuis' (another new watch maker, founded in 1995) Excalibur EX 08. The name speaks for itself! Every one who can afford paying $ 450,000 for a watch will look nicely with this piece strapped around the wrist. It is a 45 mm watch with an 18-karat polished and satiny gold case. The time is shown by golden hands on the dial of relief Roman numerals. The complications are the flying tourbillon set at 5 o'clock and the minute repeater. The watch was set on a limited production of 28 pieces.

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In the middle of the noblest watches' list has found a place the Royal Oak Tourbillon from Audemars Piguet. This watch comes from Audemars Piguet's (founded in 1875) Tradition d'Exelence Collection. In only 46 mm of 950 platinum case there are many devices to show a lot of different and maybe vital information: the two-barrel power reserve up to 10 days and the stop-work, both engraved with the designation of the watch; the 10 mm tourbillon at 9 o'clock; the 30-minute chronograph, which stands out on a black background. All this pack of little mechanisms is available in limited edition of 20 pieces for $ 379,000 each.

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The Gyrotourbillon I from Jaeger-LeCoultre (founded in 1833) has begun the list of the other half of the twelve most expensive watches in the world. It represents a 950 platinum case with a caliber 177 movement, which includes 512 separate parts. The watch, if wound to the limit, works unstoppably for 150 hours. The dial includes hours, minutes and seconds display, along with other complications as power reserve, ongoing equation of time, perpetual date and two retrograde needles, retrograde perpetual month and leap year on the back. The Gyrotourbillon I costs $ 310,000 and includes also a gray alligator strap.

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The End of the List

The Gyrotourbillon I is followed by the Grande Complication from IWC (the International Watch Company, founded in 1868). It is a fine piece of art, containing 659 mechanical parts, 71 of which are jewels. The whole mechanism is responsible for performing 21 functions, among which minute repeater, four-digit year display and moon-phase display. The case is made of fine polished goldstone and has a perpetual calendar for the next 500 years (you can now imagine how much it will cost in, say, 300 years). This wristwatch is available for round $ 300,000 for each of the 50 pieces produced.

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The 9th most expensive watch is the Skeleton Central Tourbillon from Omega. This watch is no exception from the well-known watches from Omega, which have always a lot of additional functions (no wonder Omega is the first watch to be on the moon). The Skeleton Central has impressed with its 800 separate parts, each of them being hand-made, and with the placement of the tourbillon right in the center of the face. This watch is available for anyone being willing to pay $ 282,500 for it.

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The next on the line is the Classique Grande Complication from Breguet. This timepiece is one for those who like to have the only watch in the world, as every single watch comes numbered and signed. The platinum 44 mm case has an 18-karat gold dial inside, which has a perpetual calendar to display date, day, retrograde month, leap years and phases of the moon. The reserve of power is 44 hours. Every unique timepiece of this type from Breguet will cost you 2,800.
And here are the last two most expensive watches: the Ten Day Tourbillon from Patek Philippe for 0,000 and Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon from Bretiling for $ 215,000 in platinum and 2,000 in gold.

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The Ten day Tourbillon is a stylish piece of jewelry, which is a platinum case with its 32 mm movement diameter; it will hold on to your wrist tightly with an alligator strap. The main thing about this watch is its ten-day power reserve, despite all of its complexities.

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The Breitling's watch is also one worth buying. It was turned to a production of 2 per month over the next years, so that each customer or any person willing to buy this watch could customize the particularities at his taste. 'His' because the Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon is a particularly masculine wristwatch, which comes with a 30-second chronograph, which enabled readings to one-sixth of a second.

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In the End…

You have seen that classicism is not dead, as all on the list are analog watches by the best Swiss watchmakers. There are various watches, amongst them skeleton watches, with "grand complications" and not so "grant", but none of them is a digital watch. Of course, nobody wants to underestimate the digital watches, as they might have a doubled number of functions as the analog watches, but the collector values the art in watch-making and not the technology. Handicraft, precision and patience – these three qualities determine what a watch will be like. A watch absorbs the whole love, which was given to it during its making and after it is done, it is always highly estimated and respected by those who can value the masterpiece in time.