Expensive Watch Brands: The Priciest 25 Names to Know

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 25 brands you should know about when it comes to discussing the most expensive watch brands in the world.

Before we break down the top watch brands by market segment, this graph should give you a good picture of where some of the biggest names stand in terms of record sale prices:

The Holy Trinity

The watch world’s usage of the term “Holy Trinity” can be overdone, but the term exists for good reason. Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin are three storied Swiss brands that are all over 150 years old and have historically been at the top of the food chain of luxury watchmaking. Although there is far more ultra-expensive competition from young brands than there used to be, all three “Holy Trinity” brands remain highly relevant. Let’s start with the one that makes the most watches, and has the most seven-figure auction results.

Historically the Most Expensive Watch Brand in the World: Patek Philippe

Typical Market Value: $20,000-$400,000 | Highest Sale Price Ever: $31.1 million

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 established elite brands. When you consider that the majority of all watches that sell for over a million dollars at auction are made by Patek Philippe, it’s impossible not to mention them 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.

Vacheron Constantin

Typical Market Value: $12,000-$300,000 | Highest Sale Price Ever: ~$10 million (Estimated, private commmission)

Vacheron Constantin, the oldest watch brand in the world, is no stranger to high complications and elite finishing. 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 63 functions in his custom pocket watch known as the Berkley Grand Complication. Although they didn’t publicly release the price (probably close to $10 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 high jewelry watch space, too.

Audemars Piguet

Typical Market Value: $20,000-$250,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $6.2 million

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. A unique Black Spiderman version would later sell for $6.2 million.

Legendary Classical Watchmakers

The three brands we’ve mentioned so far all have annual watch outputs measured in tens of thousands. Now we’ll talk about some elite watchmakers that operate on a much more exclusive scale.

Philippe Dufour

Typical Market Value: $500,000-$2.5 million | Highest Auction Price Ever: $7.33 million

The Philippe Dufour brand has a much higher entry point than the Holy Trinity, 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

Typical Market Value: $60,000-$425,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $8.36 million

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 1,500 watches per year (roughly 1/3 of which are quartz), 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 over $120,000. And while many other expensive watch brands have significantly dropped in value since 2022 or so, Journe seems as popular as ever.

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! Several rare complicated Journe watches have sold for multimillion-dollar prices at auction, including the second wristwatch he ever made, which is the most expensive watch made by a living watchmaker ever sold at auction (over $8 million). 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.

The Most Expensive Non-Swiss Watch Brand: George Daniels

Typical Market Value: $450,000-$2 million | Highest Auction Price Ever: $7.33 million

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 is among the very most most expensive watch brands in the world in terms of the minimum entry price you’d need to pay to get one–well over $400,000 (if you can even find one).

Roger W. Smith

Typical Market Value: $275,000-$650,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $2.42 million

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 $2.4 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. He handmakes each watch, from start to finish, with a preposterous level of care and inefficiency.

Kari Voutilainen

Typical Market Value: $180,000-$360,000 | Highest Sale Price Ever: $900,000

It’s hard to mention ultra-luxe independent watchmakers without mentioning the influence of Kari Voutilainen. Today he is perhaps best known for top-of-the-line guilloche dials, having founded the dial producer Comblémine in 2014 after acquiring the bankrupt Dialtech SA. Voutilainen is responsible for some spectacular dials made for brands like Louis Vuitton, Schwarz Etienne and Urban Jürgensen. But an actual watch from the Kari Voutilainen brand itself is a grail-of-grails for many über-collectors.

Voutilainen’s expertise extends well beyond dial work, and his bespoke movements are gloriously hand-finished. But it’s not just about the finishing; the caliber 28 he developed for his Vingt-8 series has a rare Breguet-inspired double direct impulse escapement, for instance. I expect Kari Voutilainen, with an output averaging just over one watch per week, to remain one of the most expensive watch brands for the foreseeable future. A Collected Man sold a prototype Voutilainen tourbillon for $900,000, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see KV cross the seven-figure mark soon.

Today’s Rising Class of Mega-Indies

Now we’ll get into some newer low-volume watchmaker-centric brands that are making waves among ultra-wealthy watch collectors.

Petermann Bédat

Typical Market Value: $125,000-$280,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $250,000

In 2025, there aren’t many ultra-high-end watch brands that resell above their list price. Petermann Bédat remains one of them. Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat were both born in the 1990s, making them part of a promising younger generation of watchmakers. In 2018 they released their first watch, the 1967 Deadbeat Seconds, which won the Horological Revelation Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). It was priced around $65,000, but they’ve made even more impressive watches since then.

In 2023, the formidable Petermann Bédat Reference 2941 Split-Seconds Chronograph was released with a list price of about $260,000 before taxes. Limited to just 10 pieces, it sold out quickly through direct sales and authorized retailers such as A Collected Man and The Hour Glass. If you type “Petermann Bédat” into Chrono24, you’re probably going to see 0 results. Good luck finding one.

Most Expensive Time-Only Independent Watch Brand: Rexhep Rexhepi

Typical Market Value: $200,000-$500,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $2.32 million

Rexhep Rexhepi is another ultra-high-end independent watch brand that caught on fire in 2018. Although watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi founded his high-end Akrivia brand in 2012, the Chronomètre Contemporain was the first release under his even-higher-end eponymous collection, and it was the talk of Baselworld 2018. Rexhepi’s name has been gaining cred ever since.

It’s hard to find an Akrivia for sale, let alone a Rexhep Rexhepi, but if you do, expect to pay six figures…even for a basic three-hand watch. An Akrivia x Louis Vuitton collab had a list price around $500,000 when it came out in 2023.

David Candaux

Typical Market Value: $160,000-$220,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $241,300

While the David Candaux watch brand is relatively new (launched in 2017), watchmaker-inventor David Candaux was a titan of the complicated luxury watch world long before he made watches under his own name. You can read why David Candaux is a big deal in more detail if you like, but here’s the gist of it: He’s a third-generation watchmaker from the Vallée de Joux, known for his work at Jaeger-LeCoultre (including contributions to the Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie) and several other brands. Revered for innovations like his inclined tourbillon and the retractable central “magic crown,” Candaux’s ultra-limited, meticulously handcrafted watches generally sell around the $200,000 price point.

Thomas Prescher

Typical Market Value: $130,000-$250,000 | Highest Credible Asking Price: $297,500

Thomas Prescher is another name that rings out in the world of six-figure watch connoisseurs. Prescher is known for his pioneering work with multi-axis tourbillons, especially the first-ever triple-axis flying tourbillon wristwatch in 2004. I suspect the days of finding Thomas Prescher watches for sale for five figures are probably over. While you can find a Prescher triple-axis tourbillon watch for under $300,000 secondhand, I expect new all-time-highs for the brand if/when they release new watches like the Mysterious for sale.

Haldimann

Typical Market Value: $140,000-$380,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $260,000

Beat Haldimann is known among elite collectors for producing entirely handmade watches (no CNC machines) with exotic complications. Haldimann is one of only four modern brands (along with F.P. Journe, Vianney Halter and Armin Strom) to make a chronomètre à résonance. These resonance watches have two balance springs, and because they’re connected, their vibrations tend to even out so that they beat perfectly out-of-phase with each other, thus “averaging out” possible timekeeping errors.

Haldimann, whose expertise in resonance complications dates back to the 1990s, added an extra flex by making the two balance springs part of a central flying tourbillon on the H2 Flying Resonance. This is definitely a brand to keep an eye on.

Expensive Avant-Garde “Hyperwatch” Brands

Ultra-upscale watchmaking used to be all about intricate complications, usually encased in gold or platinum, with elegant dials. But trends have shifted this century, and some of the most expensive watch brands today are known for aggressively sporty and avant-garde designs.

Richard Mille

Typical Market Value: $100,000-$350,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $6.85 million

At the top of the “hyperwatch” world is Richard Mille. In terms of actual average sale price, Richard Mille could very well be the most expensive watch brand in the world–at least among brands with significant output. 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 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. Sapphire luxury watches from brands like Hublot have six-figure list prices, but sapphire Richard Mille watches are worth millions. Note that in general, RM’s with tonneau cases hold their value better than round or rectangular ones.

Greubel Forsey

Typical Market Value: $125,000-$400,000 | Highest List Price: $1.46 million

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.

Purnell

Typical Market Value: $200,000-$400,000 | Highest Sale Price: $750,000

Another brand in a similar price wheelhouse as Greubel Forsey is Purnell. Although Purnell went bankrupt in 2024, they were a once-promising brand worn by the likes of Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi. Known for their sporty avant-garde designs and multi-axis tourbillons (featuring technology designed by movement wizard Eric Coudray), we even thought Purnell could be the next Richard Mille.

Purnell probably produced less than 700 watches in total from 2019-2024. And according to Watch-Wiki, they made about 700 watches from 2006-2016 during the Cecil Purnell era. $150,000-$350,000 is the price range for most Purnell watches, but sapphire-case models will cost much more.

Luxury Bazaar was fortunate enough to get ahold of the one-of-one Escape II Absolute Sapphire Blue Moon, and it sold for well over $700,000. Time will tell if the demise of the brand will deter collectors, or make the watches seem even more exclusive.

A Rising Star Among Ultra-Expensive Watch Brands: Vanguart

Typical Market Value: $250,000-$400,000 | Highest List Price: ~$940,000

Another favorite of MIchael Jordan’s among avant-garde ultra-expensive watch brands is Vanguart. Vanguart first appeared in 2017, founded by Axel Leuenberger, Mehmet Koruturk, Jérémy Freléchox, and Thierry Fischer. They are known for novel, technical complications with futuristic aesthetics–most notably the Black Hole Tourbillon, which features orbiting disks around a levitating tourbillon. And then there’s the Orb, which introduced a selector system allowing the user to switch between manual and automatic winding modes with the crown.

The Godfather of Bizarre Ultra-Expensive Watch Brands: URWERK

Typical Market Value: $35,000-$115,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $2.9 million (including atomic master clock)

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 $35,000-$115,000 secondhand. The brand has managed to survive and even thrive despite its ultra-niche market. Although there are a handful of other independent brands at even higher price points now, URWERK definitely helped pave the way for that. Plus, their infamous AMC–a wristwatch that comes with a master brief-cased sized actual atomic clock–sold for $2.9 million at auction, so I think they’re worthy of this list.

MB&F

Typical Market Value: $45,000-$200,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $679,000

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, an elite watchmaker-inventor and 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, but most fall between $50,000-$200,000.

High Jewelry Watch Brands

Naturally, a few of the most expensive watch brands in the world are known for their high jewelry pieces.

Jacob & Co.

Typical Market Value: $20,000-$350,000 | Highest List Price Ever: $22 million

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 $22 million retail price largely based on its gluttonous gem content, Jacob & Co. has also dipped their toes into the world of advanced complications. When Tom Brady wore three different ultra-expensive Jacob & Co. watches throughout the 2025 Super Bowl broadcast, the internet certainly took notice.

The Twin Turbo Furious is one of Jacob’s most impressive watches, featuring 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. With watches like this, Jacob & Co. clearly overlaps with the “hyperwatch” segment I mentioned earlier.

Graff

Typical Market Value: $8,000-$150,000 | Highest List Price Ever: $55 million

Graff, the famous diamond company, set records with the $55 million list price of their Fascination watch, unveiled in 2014 and absolutely slathered in multicolored diamonds. 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.

The Fascination below was given a list price of $40 million, although it’s unclear if these mega-pieces were ever actually sold or if they remain the property of Graff.

Chopard

Typical Market Price: $10,000-$100,000 | Highest-Valued Watch Ever: $25 million

In addition to being a well-respected high jewelry brand, Chopard is also an underrated luxury watch brand. Their sporty Alpine Eagle lineup is gaining steam in recent years, and overall Chopard’s finishing is outstanding. Most watch nerds tend to focus on Chopard pieces in the five-figure price range, so some people might not think of them as one of the most expensive watch brands in the world.

But they’ve made enough ultra-decadent gem-saturated high jewelry watches to earn a mention in this list, especially with their infamous “201-carat watch” and its supposed $25 million valuation (although it has never been sold publicly).

Other Major Expensive Watch Brands

There are three more major expensive watch brands that I haven’t mentioned yet. Let’s start with the most major of all.

Rolex

Typical Market Value: $5,000-$60,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $17.75 million

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.

The Most Expensive German Watch Brand: A. Lange & Söhne

Typical Market Value: $20,000-$190,000 | Highest Auction Price Ever: $852,525

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. List prices for their Grand Complication watches reach well into seven figures.

Franck Muller

Typical Market Value: $6,000-$70,000 | Highest Sale Price: $2.7 million

There are lots of Franck Muller watches readily available on the secondhand market for under $10,000, and simple ladies’ quartz watches have been a core part of their catalog for decades, so it might be a surprise to see them on this list of the world’s most expensive watch brands. But although the once-hot Franck Muller brand has never again reached the heights of popularity that it touched in the early 2000’s, they’ve never stopped quietly making ultra-upscale complications.

Franck Muller even held the title of “world’s “most complicated wristwatch” from 2010-2025 with the Aeternitas Mega. Made from 1,483 parts, it sports 36 complications. While a collector paid $2.7 million for the first one, I would expect fair market value closer to $500,000 today.

The rest of the FM catalog seems to be going upscale these days too, but as I note in my Franck Muller collector’s guide, there is still a lot of value to be had on the pre-owned Franck Muller market (such as gold perpetual calendar watches under $15,000). If you’re looking for complicated watches on a budget, I suggest including both Franck Muller and IWC in your search.

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. In addition to some of the names we’ve mentioned, watchmakers like Hajime Asaoka, Romain Gauthier, Simon Brette, Andreas Strehler, the duo of Kallinich-Claeys, and numerous other AHCI members are gaining devoted followers and long wait lists.

“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.