Age does not define the most expensive watches the world has ever seen. Instead, past owners, mechanical perfection, and beauty build value. Over the years, artists have done their best to create some of the most exquisite, as well as the most expensive watches in history.
Whether they’re from the 1930s or have recently been created, there is a slew of watches in store for those who want to collect or invest. While many were sold off for an amazing cause through auctions, or just out of personal use, these are some of the most expensive watches.
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Most Expensive Watches in the World
20. Patek Philippe Yellow Gold Calibre 89, $6 Million
First, on the list today is this extravagant Patek Philippe Calibre 89 in a stunning 18K yellow gold watch with sidereal time, second-time zone, time of sunrise and set, equation of time, perpetual calendar and so much more.
It’s a stunning piece of work and one of many from Patek Philippe, a family-owned Genevan manufacturer that focuses on watchmaking artistry. This is just one of the many creations that we will see on the most expensive watches today.
19. Rolex Daytona Unicorn Ref 6265, $6.1 Million
Talk about intense. Rolex was of course going to be on the list today. Rolex is known to be one of the most luxurious and expensive companies in the industry.
The Unicorn is one of the finest examples of luxury and most expensive watches in the world, sitting for $6 million during an auction in 2018 through Phillips.
With only one known of its kind as a white gold chronograph wristwatch with a black dial and bark-finished bracelet, it’s an incredibly unique and extravagant watch that deserves its price tag.
18. Patek Philippe Tiffany Blue, $6.5 Million
The Tiffany Blue Patek Philippe watch is one of the most unique, and personal favorite on the list. Throughout the list, we’ll see several auctions, with many going to great causes.
One such example is this most expensive watch that was auctioned at Phillips benefitting the Nature Conservancy. This is one of the unique and exciting examples of a Nautilus ever offered, as it celebrates the 170-year alliance with Philippe and Tiffany & Co.
17. Patek Philippe Titanium Ref 5208T-010, $6.6 Million
This incredibly sleek design was part of the 2017 Only Watch auction, which fetched a high price of over $6.6 million. This is the 7th year that Patek Philippe has participated in the event for a great cause and the first and only titanium version of the Ref. 5208, a truly unique one.
This Triple Complication wristwatch has a minute repeater, a mono-pusher chronograph, and an instantaneous perpetual calendar. it has a blue dial that is decorated with a hand-guilloched “carbon” motif.
16. Patek Philippe White Gold Calibre 89, $6.9 MIllion
Antiquorum hosted yet another auction for one of the most expensive watches in the world, yet it’s another Patek Philippe watch. The Geneve is a white gold Calibre 89, the most complicated watch in the world with a total of 33 complications. It’s truly unique with a keyless three-barrel, double dial, astronomical, and astrological 18k white gold.
It has sidereal time, second time-zone, time of sun rise and set, equation of time, perpetual calendar, century leap year correction, century, decade, and year indication, four-year cycle indication, and much more. With such a complex and unique watch, the price of it being auctioned for, just nearly $7 million, is fair.
15. Patek Philippe Stainless Steel, $7.2 Million
Auctioned at Phillips, this beautiful Stainless Steek Patek Philippe wristwatch is one of the greatest classics in their collection between 1993 and 2011. Even though it’s a classic, and it might not be as luxurious as others on the list, it’s still one of the most sought-after watches.
This was sold at Only Watch, a biennial auction for charity organized by the Association Monegasque contre less Myopathies, which raises money to fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. For such a great cause, and such a grand prize, it’s no wonder this watch raised over $7 million.
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14. Patek Philippe Gobbi Milano Pink Gold, $7.6 Million
Patek Philippe is a name you’ll be truly familiar with before the end of this reading. As one of the most prestigious watchmakers, it’s only fair that they have several spots throughout the most expensive watch list.
This one in particular is one of the sleeker, most brilliant designs. This watch was retailed through a well-known and luxurious Italian retailer, Gobbi Milano, and was released to the public. This was auctioned for an extraordinary $7 million.
13. Patek Philippe Two Crown Worldtime Ref 2523 Eurasia, $7.7 Million
Another item that was up for auction and received an incredible price of over $7 million is another Patek Philippe wristwatch, creating a theme throughout this list.
It’s a first of its kind, being extremely important and rare with its beautiful yellow gold and extremely detailed face. This is considered one of the most desired and unobtainable, with its two rings, one is fixed with the various timezones, and the other is divided into nocturnal and diurnal halves for easy readability.
This system is brilliant yet simple to allow for the correct time for each city while traveling. It’s an incredibly unique and beautiful watch that deserves a spot on the most expensive watches list.
12. Patek Philippe Heures Universelles, $8.9 Million
Christie’s is a famous auction house with some of the most luxurious, expensive, and rare items that can be found around the world.
One item that is astounding to see, as well as one of the most expensive, is the Patek Philippe L’Heure Bleu, a truly unique watch. This double-signed blue enamel dial is one of the rarities when it comes to the world-class Patek Philippe wristwatches. It’s part of a highly important private collection, and with it being so sought-after by collectors and investors, the price only goes up.
The world time system, or Jeures Universelles, was designed and patented in the early 1930s by Louis Cottier, and Philippe immediately saw the opportunity and ran with it, creating some of the most exquisite additions.
11. Patek Philippe Pink Perpetual Calender Chronograph, $9.5 Million
Several watches have been up for auction on the list here, and one of them is an incredibly unique one made in 1949.
Not only is it a sleek design with moon phases, time, and more, but it was also property from the estate of Prince Mohammed Tewfika A. Toussoun of Egypt. This was not only Patek Philippe’s first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch, but the first of its kind from any brand.
During its production, it’s said that only around 280 were made in gold, while a very limited amount, around 50, were in pink gold, with only a select few wearing pink dials, as shown above. This was auctioned off for over $9 million, one of the most expensive watches.
10. Patek Philippe Ref. 1518, $11 Million
The stainless steel 1518, created in 1941, is an iconic watch in the Patek Philippe collection. To begin with, it was one of the first wristwatches to feature a perpetual calendar chronograph.
The four-piece series eventually became hard to find due to its casing. While most of Philippe’s luxurious watches featured yellow or rose gold, it was the 1518 stainless steel that made the watch so valuable.
The special features of the watch which added to its $11-million sale value in 2016 are the different moon phases, the tachymeter scale, and the applied Arabic hour markers. The finer touches of the watch done by Patek Philippe himself also added to collector value.
9. Rolex Daytona, $17.8 Million
The Rolex Daytona grabs the eighth position for being the former watch of Paul Newman, one of the most bankable movie stars in the industry.
When Joanne Woodward, the wife of Paul Newman gifted the Daytona to him, it became one of the favorite watches amongst watch collectors.
Being one of only twenty other Daytonas, once Paul Newman was seen wearing the watch with a unique black exotic dial, the prices were set to rise.
After passing a few hands and those of Paul’s daughter’s boyfriend, the watch was sold for $17.8 million in 2017. However, the watch switched hands again in 2020, this time being sold for significantly less, $5.4 million.
8. Jacob & Co. Billionaire Watch, $18 Million
As stated in its name, Jacob & Co. has created a luxurious, skeleton-faced watch with 260 carats of finely cut diamonds. Under the emerald diamonds is an 18K white gold that forms the bracelet for the actual $18-million watch.
The watch was introduced to the world in 2015 during the year Baselworld by Jacob Arabo and Flavio Briatore SARL company and its affiliates. Soon in 2018, it was bought by the renowned boxer Floyd Mayweather who of course, loves bling
7. Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication, $24 Million
Named after the wealthy banker for whom it was created, the Henry Graves Supercomplication is a pocket watch with no less than 24 complications in itself.
Valued at $24 million, the watch is double-dialed, double open-faced, has a perpetual calendar, chime, a chronograph stopwatch, and several other features. Another feature that adds to the value of the watch is the celestial chart that depicts the night sky above Henry Grave’s home on Fifth Avenue in New York.
The 18-carat gold mechanical watch took over three years to design and five years to manufacture, resulting in 920 individual parts in the 74mm thick pocket watch. After passing through the hands of the Graves’ family and different museums, the watch was sold to an anonymous entity in 2014.
6. Chopard 201-Carat Watch, $25 Million
Being one of the highest-carat diamond-studded watches on the list, the Chopard contains 874 diamonds in different sizes and colors. The belt of the watch is filled with white and yellow diamonds while the center with pink, blue, and D-colored diamonds is what stands out.
The 15.37, 12.79, and 11.36-carat diamonds respectively are the only heart-shaped diamonds on the watch. The resemblance of a flower in both, the function and form of the watch allows its mechanism to open and close beautifully.
Of course, for $25 Million, would you expect nothing less?
5. Jeager-LeCoultre Joaillerie 101 Manchette, $26 Million
Not only is this one of the most expensive watches in the world but is also one of the smallest. In 1929, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watch laboratories created one of the most intense watches with the Calibre 101 which was inspired by the famous Douplan movement.
The original version saw 78 parts that were fitted into a space of just 14mm long, 4.8mm wide, and 2.4mm thick, and now has been increased to 98 parts within the same confinements, the smallest working watch. It’s crazy to see such an intense watch, but only explains why the price is so high at $26 million.
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4. Breguet No. 160, $30 Million
The Breguet No. 160 holds the fourth position at $30 million for several reasons. Made for the famous queen Marie-Antoinette, the pocket watch was commissioned by a secret admirer.
However, the 40-year-long construction resulted in the death of Marie-Antoinette before she could even receive it.
Encased in gold, the pocket watch had every known feature of those times added to it, from a chime and thermometer to a perpetual calendar.
After being stolen in 1983 from the L.A. Mayer Museum, the watch was repatriated after 24 years only to be displayed in its original position again.
3. Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime, $31 Million
In 2019, the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime took over the Breguet by being sold for $31 million. Unlike several watches on the list, the Grandmaster Chime is not studded with large diamonds on its belt and dial.
Launched in a series of seven pieces to mark the 175th anniversary of Patek Philippe in 2014, the Grandmaster Chime is their most complicated watch of all time.
The wristwatch has a salmon-colored front dial and a black back dial which are changeable via the reversible lugs. The hard work of seven years and over 100,000 hours is witnessed in the complicated but mouth-watering watch.
2. Graff Diamonds The Fascination, $40 Million
The next most expensive watch worldwide is the ‘Graff Diamonds the Fascination’ standing at $40 million.
In addition to being the all-white traditional diamond-studded watch, the center of the watch is a detachable ring that you can use separately. The watch is in itself flawless with white 152.96-carat diamonds and the center pear-shaped diamond of 38.13 carats.
The close ties between Graff Diamonds and Swiss Ateliers were the reason behind the creation of this successful convertible diamond bracelet.
Laurence Graff made the $40 million watch-come-bracelet-come-ring, and it is a masterpiece.
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1. Graff Diamonds Hallucination, $55 Million
Leading the list with a valuation of $55 million is the Graff Diamonds Hallucination watch.
Laurence Graff quite literally left no stone unturned with The Diamonds Hallucination and its combination of the finest collections of 110 carats of diamonds. The perfect blend of diamonds in different shapes and fancy colors on the platinum bracelet of the watch is what makes it the most expensive watch in the world.
When top-notch designers and craftsmen along with Graff himself worked for thousands of hours on this invisible platinum setting, the unveiling of it at the Baselworld in 2014 had to be spectacular.
Oldest Watch in the World
We’ve seen watches from around the world made in various decades, but what is truly the oldest watch in the world? The Pomander Watch, or Bisamapfeluhr, was created in 1505 in Germany and is believed to be the oldest watch in the world. While the exact inventor is unknown for sure, Peter Kenlein is credited as the creator.
