There is no single clear metric to define the most expensive watch brand. You can look at the price of brands’ most expensive watches, their least expensive watches, or an estimate of their average sale price. Most of the world’s most expensive watch brands are old and well-established. But there are also a growing number of stunning independent watch brands with a cost of entry over $50,000 even for a basic three-hand watch, and complicated pieces priced well into six figures. All in all, we think there are 15 brands you should know about when it comes to discussing the most expensive watch brands in the world.
Patek Philippe
Although there are a growing number of companies playing in the six-figure luxury watch realm, seven-figure watch auction prices are typically reserved for a very small number of elite brands. When you consider that roughly two-thirds of all watches that sell for over a million dollars at auction are made by Patek Philippe, it’s hard not to mention them first in this list. The collectability of Patek Philippe watches–of any era–is unmatched in the luxury watch world.
Patek Philippe’s finishing is legendary, and even a basic three-hand steel Nautilus can sell for six figures. But Grand Complications are where Patek really shines. Combining complications like minute repeaters with chronographs, perpetual calendars and in some cases even tourbillons, modern Patek Grand Complication watches can easily sell for around a million dollars. Their rarest vintage references can go for even more than that, but the most expensive watch ever sold is a modern Patek. A one-of-one steel version of their Grandmaster Chime, made for the Only Watch 2019 auction, sold for a record-setting CHF 31 million.
Richard Mille
In terms of actual average sale price, Richard Mille could very well be the most expensive watch brand in the world. The most basic Richard Mille watch costs $60,000 at retail, and $50,000 isn’t even enough to get a decent used one. Their sapphire-cased watches can cost several million dollars and are among the most expensive watches in the world, but most RM’s go for $100,000-$350,000 on the secondhand market.
Quite a few modern brands make watches in the $200,000+ tier now, but Richard Mille seems to be the one that most regularly trades hands at those prices. If you sort Chrono24 watch listings by the highest price, two brands absolutely dominate the top of the list: Patek Philippe and Richard Mille. And RM’s are surprisingly liquid given their price point.
Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin, the oldest watch brand in the world, is no stranger to high complications and elite finishing. They are also part of the “Holy Trinity,” a well-established collector term for three of the most storied Swiss watchmakers in history, along with Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Vacheron Constantin’s ultra-luxe bespoke division is called “Les Cabinotiers,” and there’s no limit to the amount of complications and customizations you can request. Naturally, you have to be willing to wait years for the work to be done, and spend huge sums of money.
In fact, Vacheron’s Les Cabinotiers team made the most complicated watch in the world for a client who requested a mind-melting 57 functions in his custom pocket watch. Although they didn’t publicly release the price (probably close to $8 million), it’s likely to be the highest manufacturer-set price for any non-jewelry watch in history. Notably, though, Vacheron Constantin is perfectly capable of competing in the gem-set watch space, too.
Audemars Piguet
Rounding out the Holy Trinity is Audemars Piguet, best known for their Royal Oak line of watches. Designed by the legendary watch designer Gerald Genta, the Royal Oak essentially created the idea of the “steel luxury sports watch” and has been wildly popular with luxury watch enthusiasts ever since its release in 1972. The rarest vintage Royal Oaks can sell for seven figures, and a one-of-one Royal Oak Concept Black Panther sold for over $5 million at Only Watch 2019.
Philippe Dufour
The brands we’ve mentioned so far all have annual watch outputs that could be measured in the thousands, or tens of thousands. The Philippe Dufour brand has a much higher entry point, but that’s to be expected when the annual production is in the single digits. Some would consider Philippe Dufour to be the most elite living watchmaker. He is known for working alone at his atelier, although having celebrated his 75th birthday in 2023, he is now in the process of passing the torch to his daughter.
In 1992 Mr. Dufour made horological history by becoming the first person to create a wristwatch with a grande sonnerie function. Grande sonneries chime the hours and quarter-hours automatically as they occur, unlike a minute repeater which chimes the time upon command. Grand sonneries have the ability to be switched between “active” and “silent” modes, which is incredibly mechanically complex to pull off. And yet Dufour’s brand might best be known for the aptly named Simplicity–a classic three-hand dress watch, finished to the absolute highest level possible.
F.P. Journe
Founded in 1999, the F.P. Journe brand quickly became became a pioneer in the high-end independent watch world. By 2010 or so, the buzz among watch geeks was strong. It wasn’t just another fancy Breguet-like dress watch brand. Many enthusiasts felt like François-Paul Journe was raising the bar for luxury watches in terms of creative design as well as attention to detail. Journe is known for using solid 18k gold movements on many references.
Journe’s output is probably around 1,000 watches per year, and each one has no trouble getting sold. Chanel now owns 20% of the company, but most still consider F.P. Journe an “independent.” Their most well-known watch is their “entry-level” Chronomètre Bleu. As the brand got scorching hot around 2018-2021, market prices skyrocketed from about $20,000 to well over $100,000.
Prices have come back down a bit, but still expect to pay over $80,000 for a nice example of a CB. And that’s Journe’s most basic watch! At least three rare complicated Journe watches have sold for multimillion-dollar prices at auction. Luxury Bazaar also once sold a rare set of three F.P. Journe watches for $2 million. Journe is certain to come up in any discussion of the world’s most expensive watch brands.
A. Lange & Söhne
A. Lange & Söhne has become wildly popular with hardcore watch collectors, and it’s certainly the most expensive non-Swiss watch brand producing any significant volume. Lange’s Datograph is widely considered to be one of the best chronographs ever made, and their offerings also include various complications like minute repeaters and tourbillons. And as beautiful as these German-made watches are from the front, they are arguably more revered for their appearance from behind.
George Daniels
The only non-Swiss watches that have sold for over a million dollars at auction have either been worn on the moon, or hand-signed by transcendent master watchmaker George Daniels. Daniels, who died in 2011 at age 85, was profoundly impactful on the modern watch landscape. He famously sold his co-axial movement technology to Omega, which they use to this day.
As far as his own watch brand goes, Daniels personally handmade 27 watches in his illustrious career, each one of them a masterpiece. George Daniels might be the most expensive watch brand in the world in terms of the minimum entry price you’d need to pay to get one–millions.
Roger W. Smith
Although Roger W. Smith was originally known as the protege of George Daniels, he is undeniably a master in his own right. The first watch he ever signed his own name on, which Daniels co-signed at the bottom, sold for over $2 million at auction, putting Mr. Smith in rarefied air. R.W. Smith watches all have a classic aesthetic with absolutely painstaking attention to detail. Because only about 10-15 watches are made each year, it’s hard to even find one for sale. If any current watch brand is as exclusive as Philippe Dufour, it’s R.W. Smith.
Rolex
On average, Rolex really isn’t one of the most expensive watch brands in the world. Expensive, yes, but not compared to the brands we’ve mentioned so far. However, prices of the most desirable vintage Rolexes can sell for such astronomical prices that we have to mention them here. “Paul Newman” Daytona models, featuring rare exotic dials with red accents and contrasting subdials, are worth well over $200,000 in good condition. And Paul Newman’s own Paul Newman famously sold for over $17 million at auction, making it the most expensive Rolex ever.
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Best Alternatives to the Rolex Daytona
Rolex and Nickel Allergies: What’s the Deal?
Jacob & Co.
Jacob & Co. is primarily a jewelry company, but they’ve firmly established themselves as one of the most expensive watch brands in the world. In addition to haute joaillerie watches like the Billionaire Timeless Treasure, with a $20 million retail price largely based on its gluttonous gem content, Jacob & Co. has also dipped their toes into the world of advanced complications.
Their Twin Turbo Furious, for example, features twin triaxial tourbillons with a decimal minute repeater and a monopusher chronograph with a reference time differential indicator. These insane complications are why a Twin Turbo Furious–even without any gems on it–costs at least $500,000 on the secondhand market. Expect to pay seven figures for a sapphire-cased one. If you hear a watch collector use the term “hyperwatch,” they’re probably referring to something like this.
Graff
Graff, the famous diamond company, has made at least two $40 million high-jewelry watches in the past. But they’re more of a “jewelry company who occasionally makes watches” than a true watch brand. Unlike Jacob & Co, Graff isn’t particularly interested in mechanical movement complications, and even their eight-figure watches use quartz movements. Still, when they’re putting an estimated $6 million of diamonds (at wholesale value, not accounting for the crafting of the piece) on a watch, it’s hard not to consider them as one of the world’s most expensive watch brands.
URWERK
Nowadays, six-figure watch collectors expect futuristic, avant-garde options to be available. But that wasn’t always the case. Founded in 1997 by watchmaker Felix Baumgartner, his brother Thomas, and artist Martin Frei, URWERK was doing something relatively unheard-of at the time: luxury watches with totally unconventional time displays and ultra-complicated purpose-built movements.
We were not businessmen. It was extremely risky because we had no idea how our watches would be accepted.
Felix Baumgartner, URWERK co-founder
URWERK was one of the most expensive watch brands in the world as soon as it was launched, and most of their watches now sell for about $50,000-$150,000 secondhand. The brand has managed to survive and even thrive despite its ultra-niche market. And, arguably, URWERK has paved the way for some aggressively styled watch brands that now sell for even more.
MB&F
Following in a similar vain as URWERK is MB&F, which stands for Maximilian Büsser & Friends. This Swiss luxury watch brand is also known for its unconventional and avant-garde timepieces. The company was founded by Maximilian Büsser, a former executive at Harry Winston, in 2005. MB&F is celebrated for their futuristic and innovative designs, and the impressive advanced movements they fit in them. The brand has also collaborated with various artists and other high-end watch brands like H. Moser & Cie. MB&F’s hottest watches sell for over $250,000.
Greubel Forsey
Greubel Forsey, founded by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey in 2004, has made a big name for themselves in the world of haute horology. The brand’s inaugural timepiece, the Double Tourbillon 30°, showcased their spectacular technical prowess. Soon after, they would release the world’s first quadruple tourbillon, and Greubel Forsey has continued to innovate ever since. In 2017 they even combined a grande sonnerie with a tourbillon.
Despite their relatively short history, Greubel Forsey has earned a reputation as one of the most respected watchmakers in the game. You’ll be unlikely to find a pre-owned one for less than $150,000. Models with solid sapphire cases typically exceed $400,000.
Most Expensive Watch Brands of the Future: Other Notable Independents
Fortunately for ultra- high-end watch collectors, a growing number of independent brands are continuing to enter the scene. For a time, F.P. Journe seemed like the only modern independent widely regarded as on par with Patek, but now a slew of names have entered the ultra-luxury watch fold, Brands like Ferdinand Berthoud, Romain Gauthier, Simon Brette, Rexhep Rexhepi, Petermann Bédat, Czapek, Purnell, and Grönefeld (along with many other AHCI members) all have devoted followings and long waitlists. It’s also hard to mention ultra-luxe independent watchmakers without mentioning Kari Voutilainen, known for his spectacularly crafted dials and movements.
“If you compare Greubel Forsey to the recent releases by Simon Brette and Rexhep Rexhepi, let’s just say the game has moved on. I had the opportunity to handle the Petermann Bédat split-second chronograph as well and the finishing was better in my opinion than GF’s.”
Ichiran. Rolex Forums user
Indeed, some high-end collectors enjoy seeking out new horological talent, and many of today’s young brands might be the multimillion-dollar auction darlings of tomorrow. In any case, it’s unlikely that the rarest complicated Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet watches will stop going for big money anytime soon. We hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the world’s most expensive watch brands.
1 Comment
I’m planning an extensive watch collection and looking forward to working with you when my investment matures.