10 watches from 200,000 to over a million euros

What do a Swatch and a Patek Philippe have in common? Both tell the time with the same Swiss precision. Yet the first is 30 times cheaper than the more accessible Patek Philippe. But between this Calatrava 5196J (21,400 euros) and the more expensive Patek Philippe, the gap is even bigger. In the field of luxury watchmaking, the limit is often the price that customers can pay… Well, within a certain limit. Because before going to the retailer, there are many expensive steps. Developing a manufacturing movement can cost as much as 20 or 25 million euros. It will then serve as a working basis for master watchmakers who will be responsible for designing complications that range from simple dates to the grand strike or minute repeater.

Some timepieces require several hundred hours of work to be assembled, adjusted, and certified. And insofar as a Swiss watchmaker is paid 60,000 euros per year (twice as much as in France), this know-how must be reflected in the cost of the watch. Besides, the price of gold is skyrocketing. In January 2001, the 1-kilo ingot was trading at 9,200 euros. Twenty years later, he flirts with the 54,000 euros. And if a watch is bought in euros, it can be bought in Swiss francs. And, again, it is the outbreak. In 2001, the euro was worth 1.5 francs. In 2020, our currency is only worth 1.08 francs. Which explains some tariffs.

Price range

The majority of these models are priced “on request” from the brands, who do not communicate their exact value. However, here is a price scale.

Index 1: from 200,000 to 300,000 euros
Index 2: from 300,000 to 400,000 euros
Index 3: from 400,000 to 500,000 euros
Index 4: from 1 million to 1.5 million euros
Index 5: more than 1.5 million euros

Parmigiani Fleurier: Toric Tecnica

Price index: 3

This unique timepiece from the house founded in 1975 by Michel Parmigiani in Fleurier offers a diameter of 45 millimeters and a thickness of 13 millimeters in pink gold. It contains three of the greatest complications specific to fine watchmaking: a perpetual calendar, a tourbillon, and a minute repeater. Its hand-wound mechanism also incorporates a power reserve indication (up to forty-two hours).

Rolex: Oyster Perpetual Pearlmaster 39

Price index: 1

When the finest watchmaking meets the finest jewelry, the result is this 39-millimeter Datejust. Mixed, it is the most valuable serial Rolex, with its dial paved with 713 diamonds, its bezel set with 36 brilliant-cut gems, and its 5-link bracelet also set with 840 diamonds, totaling 11 carats. Its movement is caliber 3235, Rolex manufacture, certified chronometer.

A. Lange & Söhne: Zeitwerk Minute Repeater

Price index: 3

In platinum, this German timepiece is the only one in the world to combine a mechanical display with jumping digits and a decimal minute repeater. Pressing the pusher allows the watch to tell the time by jingling. For example: at 2:12 a.m., the left hammer sounds the low note twice for each full hour. Then a double knock sounds to indicate the completion of a ten-minute period. Finally, the hammer on the right indicates the minutes to the sound of two high notes.

Citizen Eco-Drive Chandler Field Watch for Men, BM8180-03E

 

 

 

Richard Mille: RM 07-02 Sapphire

Price index: 5

A technological feat of the Franco-Swiss brand, this three-hand ladies’ watch features a colored sapphire case set with diamonds. Its thickness is only 5.05 millimeters. It contains 25 jewels skeletonized automatic movement with gold bridges and the main plate. The latter is also set with hundreds of diamonds, as is the oscillating weight.

Purnell: Escape IIS Treasure Baguette Rainbow

Price index: 5

A small house of Swiss fine watchmaking founded by a Briton, Purnell produces around fifty pieces per year. The iconic timepiece of the brand: this double tourbillon with three axes (entirely decorated with gems) installed in a 44-millimeter case in pink gold adorned with 273 baguette diamonds, 41 baguettes sapphires, rubies, and tsavorites, for a total weight of 18, 95 carats.

Piaget: Altiplano Ultimate Concept

Price index: 3

Known for its slimline watches, the Geneva watchmaker pushes the limits of finesse with this manual-winding Manufacture movement made up of 167 parts and equipped with a 40-hour power reserve. It is enclosed in a cobalt alloy case (for its luster, mechanical strength, and six times the hardness of gold) just 2 millimeters thick for a total weight of 14.2 grams.

De Bethune: DB28 Tourbillon Deadbeat Seconds

Price index: 3

Avant-garde design for traditional complications. Unlike most tourbillons which turn in one minute, De Bethune turns his in thirty seconds. He adds a second central called “dead”. And, unlike a quartz watch, on a mechanical watch, the second’s hand rotates continuously. The so-called dead or jumping second horological complication marks one step every second for greater reading precision.

Bell & Ross: BR-X1 Skeleton Tourbillon Sapphire Black

Price index: 2

In just a few years, Bell & Ross has established itself among the big names in watchmaking. The Franco-Swiss brand revisits the design that has made its reputation with a case with a diameter of 45 millimeters all in anti-reflective sapphire. It contains a manual-winding mechanical skeleton movement fitted with a tourbillon caliber BR-Cal. 288 with a 100-hour power reserve.

Omega Men’s 3570.50.00 Speedmaster Professional Watch with Stainless Steel Bracelet

Patek Philippe: Tourbillon Minute Repeater 5303R-001

Price index: 4

An exceptional manufacturer, Patek Philippe is launching a skeleton watch with a mechanical hand-wound movement incorporating a minute repeater, a tourbillon, and a small second. This watch reveals on the side of the dial the striking system with hammers and gongs. The lucky owner of this 42-millimeter rose gold watch, therefore, goes from a perfectly chiseled jewel when he reads the time to a fairyland for the eyes and ears when he activates the movement.

Hublot: Spirit of Big Bang High Jewelry

Price index: 2

In 18K white gold, this is the ultimate chronograph. Its movement is based on a Zenith El Primero (the most precise stopwatch in the world). Except for the alligator strap, this watch is fully diamond-coated: 8.10 carats on the case and bezel (178 gems in total), 113 baguette diamonds on the dial (2.1 carats), and, finally, 55 diamonds (2, 9 carats) on the folding clasp.