Affordable Haute Horology: The Best Complicated Watches on a Budget

In the luxury watch world, advanced complications like perpetual calendars, tourbillons and split-seconds chronographs usually mean enormous price tags. But there are some surprisingly affordable complicated watches you can find secondhand if you’re willing to look at some forgotten models from relatively under-hyped brands. Here’s our guide to haute horology on a budget.

I won’t beat around the bush: When it comes to finding a good “value” on complicated watches, five brands immediately stick out to me: IWC, Blancpain, Ulysse Nardin, Franck Muller, and Zenith. Girard-Perregaux and Bulgari have also made some high-end options that you can find well below their original MSRP. Some affordable Swiss brands like Frederique Constant–and even some Chinese-made brands like Xeric–now offer affordable tourbillons and perpetual calendars, but in this guide I’ll stick to higher-end marques.

Affordable Highly Complicated Dress Watch: IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar

I’ll get the most obvious “complicated luxury watch on a budget” out of the way first: the IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar IW3750. It debuted in 1985 featuring Kurt Klaus’s now-legendary perpetual calendar module added onto a base Valjoux 7750 movement. This was decades before the term “in-house movement” even became a common term; back then elite watchmakers were judged by the complications they could craft in module form.

The special thing about Klaus’s perpetual calendars is that all calendar indications–day, date, month, year, and moonphase–are adjusted simply via the crown, a major advancement at the time. Even now, most complicated watches have little buttons on the case for advancing those indicators, which isn’t ideal for water resistance.

And because the IW3750 was made for almost 20 years, it’s not terribly rare–in fact you can find decent examples for $10,000. For a solid gold dress watch with a world-class perpetual calendar movement, that’s not bad. The 39mm case size of the IW3750 is a sweet spot for a lot of wrists, but if you’re not a fan of the ultra-traditional case shape and movable lugs, there are sportier options.

Affordable and Sporty Complicated Watch: IWC Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar

The IWC Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar made its debut in 2006, initially as a highly limited edition of just 25 pieces in platinum. Over the years, IWC has released at least 40 versions, each featuring the aforementioned Kurt Klaus perpetual calendar mechanism. In-house IWC caliber 52615 movements replaced the slightly thicker Valjoux-based ones in 2016 but the impressive 7-day power reserve remained unchanged. Among the most popular and striking editions are the “Top Gun” versions offered with a black, green or white ceramic case. Personally I’m partial to the “Mojave Desert” version with a light brown ceramic case.

In 2021, IWC introduced the first standard production model in stainless steel with a blue dial. If you don’t mind the jumbo case size (over 46mm wide and 15.4-16.0mm thick), a pre-owned Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar is a great way to get a highly complicated but sporty everyday watch with a budget of about $18,000-$25,000.

Franck Muller Conquistador Grand Prix Tourbillon

Although Franck Muller is one of the more underrated luxury watch brands today, they were crushing it in the early 2000’s. Franck Muller (the man) had already been making tourbillon movements since the 1980’s, so his brand had a bit of a head start on the tourbillon trend. So, since there are so many Franck Muller tourbillons out there, and because the huge-stylized-Arabic-numeral aesthetic is a bit out of fashion, there are plenty of deals to be had.

While it’s relatively easy to find a tourbillon watch on a budget if you’re OK with a random 15-year-old dress watch, sporty options are few and far between. So if you want Richard Mille vibes at a fraction of the price, you could consider something like a Franck Muller Conquistador Tourbillon Grand Prix 9900 TGP for about $30,000. With a 48mm case diameter, considering tonneau cases wear large, it’s an absolute chonker–and just about the opposite of a stealth wealth watch.

Zenith Chronomaster XXT Quantième Perpetual

There are also some not-that-cool-looking dressy Zenith tourbillon watches that you can find deeply discounted, but for the money I’d recommend a complicated El Primero model instead. Zenith is famous for the El Primero movement, the first fully integrated automatic chronograph movement ever made–meaning it’s not just a chronograph module added onto a base movement. It’s also a renowned, reliable high-beat movement, beating 10 times per second. And if you’re looking for an affordable complicated watch, there are numerous Zenith El Primero triple calendar chronographs that offer solid value propositions.

But for something even more complicated than a simple complete calendar chronograph–which makes you adjust the date at the end of a non-31-day month like some sort of peasant–you could consider the Zenith Chronomaster XXT Quantième Perpetual, a perpetual calendar chronograph only produced from about 2003-2004. It was only offered in precious metals, and white or rose gold versions should be attainable for under $25,000. With a 45mm diameter and 15.5mm case height, it’s roughly the same size as the Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar.

An Affordable Complicated Watch on an Integrated Bracelet: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Evo 3 Perpetual Calendar

If you’re looking for the most complicated integrated-bracelet luxury watch you can get with a budget of about $35,000, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Evo 3 Perpetual Calendar ref. 90190 is tough to beat. Hailing from the mid-2000’s, it’s a perpetual calendar with chronograph and GMT functionality. $35,000 is a lot of money for a watch, but when you consider that you’ll probably pay over $200,000 for an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak or Patek Philippe Nautilus with a perpetual calendar complication, it seems downright reasonable.

With a 44mm diameter and 15.1mm case height, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Evo 3 Perpetual Calendar is another large watch, but not unreasonably so. It was offered in either 18k white gold or rose gold.

Girard-Perregaux Bridges Constant Escapement L.M.

The Girard-Perregaux Constant Force Escapement was a major achievement when it comes to addressing a fundamental watchmaking challenge: maintaining consistent timekeeping accuracy as a watch’s mainspring unwinds. Unlike traditional lever escapements or intermediary constant-force mechanisms like the remontoir d’égalité, GP’s innovation integrates true constant-force delivery directly into the escapement itself. This ensures the balance wheel receives identical energy impulses throughout the entire power reserve, eliminating amplitude drop entirely. It was a big deal when it came out in 2013.

The escapement uses a 14-micron-thick silicon blade that “buckles” between two fixed states, storing and releasing energy identically with each balance swing. This direct, snapping action provides mathematically constant impulses regardless of the mainspring’s tension. It’s one of the most impressive complications in the watchmaking world, yet you can find a used Girard-Perregaux Bridges Constant Escapement L.M. for well under $50,000. No one else even makes a true constant force escapement, other than Girard-Perregaux’s sister company Ulysse Nardin and their similar Ulysse Anchor Escapement. While watches with a remontoir d’égalité typically cost six figures, this is a way to get an even more advanced complication with a smaller budget.

Bulgari Gérald Genta

Bulgari bought the Gerald Genta watch brand from its previous owner, the Hour Glass, in the year 2000. After that point, the famous watch designer Gérald Genta had nothing to do with the brand named after him. Bulgari-era Gérald Genta watches are largely ignored by the collecting world, but that means you can find them for relatively good prices. There are some pretty affordable Bulgari Gérald Genta watches available secondhand with wild complications. You can get a double retrograde model with jump hours for well under $10,000, for example, which is pretty remarkable.

If you’re looking for a highly distinctive but somewhat affordable complicated watch, you could consider almost any Bulgari Gérald Genta Octo model. When they first appeared in 2004 with their distinctive angular 42.5mm cases, the watches just said Gérald Genta on the dial. They tried adding “Bvlgari” on top in 2010 before abandoning the Gérald Genta brand entirely in 2012, shortly after LVMH acquired Bulgari. In 2023 LVMH restructured the Gerald Genta brand to be its own more exclusive division.

If the double retrograde jump hours Octo shown above isn’t complicated enough for you, a budget of $25,000 can get you a solid gold quadruple retrograde chronograph with jump hours. Although the Bulgari chapter of the Genta brand’s history features a lot of loud and dated aesthetics, I feel like it’s due for a resurgence in collector interest.

A Tastefully Sized Affordable Complicated Watch: Blancpain Villeret Split Second Chronograph

A split-seconds (“rattrapante”) chronograph is a deceptively difficult complication to make, and it’s also difficult to find an affordable one. It’s essentially two chronographs in one. You can find this feature on breathtaking six-figure watches from the likes of A. Lange & Söhne and F.P. Journe, but you can also find it on some rather overlooked Blancpain dress watches.

The Blancpain Villeret Split Second Chronograph ref. 1186, produced from about 1990-2001, is a particularly good value. It’s generally available for about $10,000 in yellow gold or $15,000 in platinum. With a tasteful 34mm diameter, it’s one of few modestly-sized affordable complicated watches on this list.

An Unconventional and Affordable Complicated Watch: Ulysse Nardin Freak X

The Ulysse Nardin Freak, launched in 2001, eschews a traditional dial and hands in favor of a visible movement that rotates hourly, effectively making the entire movement act as the hands. This groundbreaking watch, envisioned by Carole Forestier-Kasapi and developed under the guidance of Rolf Schnyder and Ludwig Oechslin, also pioneered the use of silicon in watchmaking. I think the aggressively avant-garde aesthetics sometimes hold Ulysse Nardin back from mainstream popularity, but their horological prowess is unquestionable.

Although the Freak is costly–even a used one will cost you at least $45,000–in 2019 Ulysse Nardin introduced the Freak X, a model aimed at a broader audience. The Freak X retained the signature no-dial, no-hands display but introduced a conventional crown for easier setting and winding, whereas the original Freak is set and wound with the bezel and caseback.

Powered by the automatic UN-230 movement, the Freak X has a 72-hour power reserve and a slightly smaller 43mm case, compared to the original’s 45mm. Some colorways of the Freak X can be found pre-owned for less than $20,000, and if you don’t mind the unapologetic nautical imagery, that’s a pretty reasonable price for how complicated of a watch it is.

Harry Winston Ocean Project Z6

One last wacky and surprisingly affordable complicated watch I should mention is the Harry Winston Ocean Project Z6 Alarm in Zalium (reference 400/MMAC44ZC.K). It’s a curious blend of high watchmaking, niche material science and over-the-top 2010’s design language, with a 44mm case made from Zalium—a proprietary zirconium-based alloy touted as harder than titanium and originally reserved for aerospace and surgical tools. This limited edition of 300 pieces (250 with anthracite dial, 50 with silver) was priced at nearly $50,000 when it launched in 2013 but now sells secondhand for about a quarter of that.

The manual-wind movement in the Harry Winston Ocean Project Z6 watch contains a practical yet complex alarm function that can distinguish AM from PM, a rarity in mechanical alarms. With day and night indicators for both the current time and the alarm time, the dial is a veritable cacophony of finishing techniques and overlapping indicators that will impress horology enthusiasts and overwhelm the casual observer. Impressively, The alarm has its own barrel (cylindrical container housing a mainspring) so its operation doesn’t interfere with the timekeeping or power reserve of the watch itself.

The black rubber strap and DLC-coated Zalium case deliver a sporty, lightweight feel, and the finishing of the 340-piece movement is excellent–after all, Harry Winston is arguably the Swatch Group’s most upscale brand (though they’re more famous for their jewelry than watches). If you want beautifully hand-finished bridges with chamfered edges at a reasonable price, pre-owned Harry Winstons are worth a look.

When it comes to getting spectacularly complicated watches at relatively affordable prices, as you can see, it helps if you’re OK with massive watches with loud design language. But there are plenty of classier options if you consider neo-vintage dress watches from the likes of Blancpain and IWC. Happy hunting!