On Monday, Apple’s Watch presentation drummed up a lot of buzz surrounding its $17,000 gold timepiece.
But that’s nothing compared to a $55 million diamond-encrusted watch.
We rounded up the latest top timepieces that cost over a million dollars, disregarding auction prices and past sales. We only included watches that are currently on the market that you can actually buy.
That is, if you can afford it.
Keep reading to see seven of the most expensive watches in the world.
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Quatuor watch costs $1.1 million
Debuted in 2013, the Excalibur Quatuor silicon watch took 2,400 hours to build and over 7 years of research to create. Each of its balances pulse four times per second, so instead of a classic ticking watch, it sounds more like a whirring machine.
Only three of these watches exist in the world, each made of 590 parts and with a $1.1 million price tag. Read more about the Excalibur Quatuor here.
Jaeger-LeCoultre's Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie timepiece costs $1.5 million
With 1,472 parts, this is one of the most complex watches in the world. It has a perpetual calendar, flying tourbillon, and took five years to the develop.
The watch also comes with a Hybris Mechanica 55 Safe which is a part of the extreme price. It’s a leather-coated trunk that is code-secured with a sound system within the safe that allows the chiming of the Hybris Mechanica à Grand Sonnerie to be heard.
The Greubel Forsey Art Piece 1 watch costs between $1 million and $2 million
Along with 30-degree double tourbillons, a beautiful blue dial cover, and sapphire case back, this watch has a tiny work of art by British artist Willard Wigan. It’s a tiny gold ship which you can see by looking through what looks like a second crown but what is actually a 23x magnifier that displays the microscopic sculpture.
The price for this exquisite Greubel Forsey design isn’t technically known (it’s only available for serious buyers), but it’s estimated to be between $1 and $2 million.
Richard Mille's Tourbillon RM 56-02 Sapphire watch retails for over $2 million
With a transparent case made from solid sapphire, this Richard Mille watch has titanium movements and is both scratch-resistant and water resistant up to 3 meters.
Only 10 of the Tourbillon RM 56-02 Sapphire were made and they cost $2.02 million. Each watch “requires 40 days of continuous 24/7 machining for the case followed by 400 additional hours” of finishing work, according to Watch Time.
A. Lange & Söhne's Grand Complication timepiece costs over $2 million
Courtesy of A. Lange & Söhne
This A. Lange & Söhne watch debuted at a price tag of €1.92 million ($2.05 million at today's conversion rates) with 876 individual parts.
It takes a full year for the watchmaker to complete each watch. Since it debuted in 2013, there’s only been one of these watches released each year — the last and final watch will be sold in 2018. Read more about the Grand Complication here.
Patek Philippe’s The Grandmaster Chime watch costs $2.6 million
In honor of the storied Swiss watchmaker’s 175th anniversary, Patek Philippe unveiled this gorgeous watch with 20 complications, two dials, and 214 parts.
It took eight years and over 100,000 man hours to develop. Only seven of the two-faced watches were produced, each retailing for a whopping $2.6 million. Read more about the Grandmaster Chime here.
The Graff Diamonds Hallucination watch costs $55 million
Graff Diamonds
Blowing away the competition is also the only watch for women on the list — the gem-studded Graff Diamonds Hallucination from Graff Jewelry, a new name in the watch business that debuted at last year’s Baselworld watch show.
The bracelet has a tiny face and huge colored diamonds all set in platinum. Only one was made and as far as we know, it’s still up for sale if you're interested.
Only time will tell if Graff outdoes itself at this year’s Baselworld later this month.
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