The 11 Most Expensive Watch Brands In the World Right Now

Anyone deep into the hobby of watches knows how much money is involved in calling yourself a proper collector, especially if you are dabbling in the most expensive watch brands. Whilst we might be well aware of Rolex, Omega, and the price of a Submariner, these Swiss powerhouses are nowhere near the top in the pricing stakes. If you know where to look, there are several brands whose watches can set you back the equivalent of an attractive home.

Talking about watches at these price points can make you feel a little faint. However, there is a method to the madness. “Brands in the holy trinity of watchmaking [Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin] have two things that really justify their position in the watch world: history and heritage,” says Hamish Robertson, founder of The Watch Collectors’ Club. “These are brands that have made incredibly high-quality watches for a very, very long time.”

When you buy a watch from this caliber of brand, you’re buying hundreds of years of development and watch expertise. Robertson further references the movement technology from these established brands: “They are constantly trying to come up with new and interesting movements which work in new ways, are more efficient, more reliable and easier to use.”

This time investment and the expertise required to innovate at this level is a huge price driver but it’s not the only one. Many of the expensive new watch brands pride themselves on hand-finishing and hand-assembly. These tasks are carried out by expert watchmakers who can spend months producing a single watch. For a brand like A. Lange & Sӧhne, the finishing of the movement is expected to take hundreds of hours—then there’s still the case, dial, hands, and other components. This devotion to craftsmanship is fairly unique to the watch industry because whether you buy a $25,000 Kia or a $200K Mercedes, it’s still built by a machine and robots in a factory.

The final justification for five, six, and even seven-figure price tags is the complications. Watches at this level are rarely your typical three-hand configuration (meaning it simply tells the time with hours, minutes, and seconds hands and nothing else). Instead, they come with elaborate and complex complications. Andrew Morgan, founder of Andrew Morgan Watches, states that independent brands are “pursuing ever more complex and intricate processes and functions to bring differentiation and intrigue to a watch. Some complications make no logical sense, but have a poetry to them that is hugely appealing.”

The complications you can expect to find in these high-end timepieces include perpetual calendar tourbillons, gravity equal force mechanisms, and sequential flyback chronographs. If you’re unfamiliar with what any of those are, don’t worry, just know it’s artistry on a level with the Mona Lisa, Sistine Chapel, and Kevin Durant’s jumpshot.

So why would you buy a watch at this price bracket instead of a condo? “On the most objective side, many expensive watches have the ability to hold or even increase in value,” says Morgan. “Some watches become incredibly collectible and go on to be worth many, many times more than their original retail price, in much the same way as art.”