And the winner is… a watch from Graff Diamonds from 2014 that looks like candy. On most lists on the internet. The Graff Hallucination is the most expensive watch in the world, costing 55 million dollars. It is 110 carats of colored diamonds set into a bracelet of platinum. What if they put twice as much shiny things on it? Then it’s 110 million?
Number two is also from Graff, the same recipe. A bucket of diamonds and there is a watch somewhere underneath. It’s the 2015 Graff Fascination with 152.96 carats of white diamonds and a center, 38.13-carat, pear-shaped diamond that can detach into a ring. Yours for 40 million.
Number four, from renowned watch brand Chopard. Costs 25 million and consist of a 15-carat pink diamond, a 12-carat blue diamond, and an 11-carat white diamond as well as a further 163 carats of white and yellow diamonds. It’s called the Chopard 201-Carat Watch, if you can recognize the watch somewhere in the middle.
So, what about number three, is that a normal watch? Well, sort of. It’s a Breguet Marie-Antoinette Grande Complication Pocket Watch number 1160, worth 30 million. It was ordered by a secret lover of the French queen Marie Antoinette, in 1783. According to Breguet’s website “the order stipulated that wherever possible gold should replace other metals and that auxiliary mechanisms, i.e. complications, should be as numerous and varied as possible. No time or financial limits were imposed”. Unfortunately, it took 44 years to finish the pocket watch, 34 years after the death of the queen. And the secret lover was already dead too. Yes, it is a watch. A pocket watch. We are looking for something else…
The most expensive watch in the world to wear on your wrist
You already understood that we are looking for a real watch, a watch you can wear on your wrist. Not an explosion of diamonds with a watch somewhere underneath. In our opinion the most expensive watch in the world should be a “normal” watch. But where do we draw the line? There is an 18-million Jacob & Co. watch called Billionaire with 260 carats of emerald-cut diamonds that actually looks like a watch. Sort of. No.
Then there is a diamond Hublot Classic Fusion Haute Joaillerie for 5 million. It features 1280 diamonds with at least three carats each, and it really looks like a watch. Still, no.
Which gives us the following list, with seven models from Patek Philippe and three models from Rolex. The list is ordered by the amount in US dollars, based on the exchange rate on the moment of sale.
1 |
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Paul Newman Ref. 6239 (1968)
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| This Rolex that belonged to Paul Newman beats the Patek Philippe Ref. 1518A that was the most expensive wrist watch since last year. The Rolex was sold on the 26th of October 2017 by Phillips Auctioneers in New York. |
| Sold for: CHF 17’750’973 Which was: $ 17,752,500 | € 15.268.341 | £ 13,565,921 |
2
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Patek Philippe Ref. 1518A (1943)
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| One out of four, the first one made. A Grande Complication with a perpetual calendar and chronograph, which was the first ever made at the time. Read the full story about the Patek Philippe Ref. 1518A here. It was sold on the 13th of November 2016 by Phillips Auctioneers in Geneva. |
| Sold for: CHF 11’002’000 Which was: $ 11,128,250 | € 10.231.860 | £ 8,810,573 |
3
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Patek Philippe Ref. 5016A-010 (2015)
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| A unique piece donated by Patek to Only Watch to be auctioned for charity. Only Watch is a biennial auction to fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and offers one-off pieces from several watch brands around the world. This Patek Philippe 5016A-010 is a Minute Repeater Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar in stainless steel with a blue enamel dial. Read more about the model here. It was sold on the 7th of November 2015 by Phillips Auctioneers in Geneva. |
| Sold for: CHF 7’300’000 Which was: $ 7,259,348 | € 6.757.908 | £ 4,822,686 |
4
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Patek Philippe Ref. 5208T-010 (2017)
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| The Ref. 5208T-010 is a minute repeater with monopusher chronograph, perpetual calendar and moon phase for Only Watch 2017, was auctioned by Christie’s on the 11th of November 2017. Bidding started at CHF 900’000 ($ 932,000 / € 822.000 / £ 710,000). Read about the Patek Philippe Ref. 5208T-010 here. |
| Sold for: CHF 6’200’000 Which was $ 6,224,500 | € 5.335.600 | £ 4,719,400 |
5
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Patek Philippe Ref. 1527 (1943)
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| The Patek Philippe Ref. 1527 is an 18K gold perpetual calendar chronograph with moon phase. The case has a diameter of 37.6 millimeters and houses Patek’s caliber 13”’, a nickel-finished lever movement stamped with the Geneva seal. It was sold by Christie’s Geneva on the 10th of May 2010. |
| Sold for: CHF 6’259’000 Which was: $ 5,655,140 | approx. € 4.394.719 | £ 3,772.074 |
6
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Rolex Ref. 6062 Bao Dai (1952)
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| The Rolex Ref. 6062 Bao Dai is named after its former owner, the last emperor of Vietnam, who purchased the timepiece in Geneva during peace negotiations in 1954. At that time it was the most expensive watch Rolex could offer. It has a 36-millimeter 18K yellow gold case and it is one of only three black dial models known to be set with diamond markers. The two other examples feature six diamond markers for odd hour numbers, this Bao Dai displays five diamond numerals for even numbers and a different dial layout, making this piece unique. It was auctioned on the 13th of May 2017 by Phillips Auctioneers in Geneva. |
| Sold for: CHF 5’066’000 Which was: $ 5,060,715 | € 4.630.015 | £ 3,927,058 |
7
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Patek Philippe Ref. 130 (1927)
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| The Patek Philippe Ref. 130 is an ‘oversized’ (35 millimeters) stainless steel single button chronograph with vertical registers, sector dial and pulsometer scale. There are only two Ref. 130’s known in stainless steel, all other Ref. 130’s have a 33-millimeter gold case. It was auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York on the 10th of May 2015. |
| Sold for: CHF 4’645’000 Which was: $ 4,987,384 | € 4.451.632 | £ 3,225,784 |
8
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Patek Philippe Ref. 5004T (2013)
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| The Patek Philippe Ref. 5004T is a split seconds perpetual calendar in titanium and was also auctioned at Only Watch, this time edition 2013. It is powered by the very last Lemania-based CHR 27-70 Q caliber, a hand-winder. It is the only Ref. 5004 in titanium ever made, so yes, it is a one-off. It was sold by Antiquorum auctioneers in Monaco at the Only Watch 2013 edition on the 28th of September 2013. |
| Sold for: € 2.950.000 Which was: $ 3,988,993 | £ 2,470,959 | CHF 3’613’549 |
9
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Patek Philippe Ref. 1415 HU Platinum (1939)
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| The Patek Philippe Ref. 1415 HU (Heures Universelles) is probably the only one in platinum. It has a hand-engraved revolving reeded bezel bearing the names of 41 cities in the world, and it has teardrop faceted lugs. The case has a diameter of 31 millimeters. It was sold by Antiquorum Auctioneers in Geneva on the 13th of April 2002. |
| Sold for: CHF 6’603’500 Which was: $ 3,962,657 | € 4.478.084 | £ 2,743,374 |
10
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Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 Oyster Cosmograph ‘Paul Newman’ (1969)
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| The Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 Oyster Cosmograph ‘Paul Newman’ is also known as “The Legend”. It is a 37.5-millimeter 18K yellow gold chronograph with “lemon” grené dial and white graphics. There are two known pieces. It was sold in Geneva on the 14th of May 2017 by Phillips Auctioneers. |
| Sold for: CHF 3’722’000 Which was: $ 3,718,371 | € 3.401.456 | £ 2,885,359 |
Not in the top 10 but worth to known:
bit of a cheater |
Louis Moinet Meteoris set |
| Louis Moinet created four Meteoris models showcased in an objet d’art, the Meteoris planetarium. The planetarium depicts the solar system surrounded by four unique tourbillon timepieces, each featuring a rare meteorite. There is a Tourbillon Mars, a Tourbillon Rosetta Stone, a Tourbillon Asteroid and a Tourbillon Moon. It has no official place in this list as the price is for the whole set. The planetarium and four tourbillons. And two of them have diamonds on the bezel. |
| Price: $ 4,599,487 |
For the exchange rate calculations (at mid-market rates) we used the currency tables from XE.
Most information about the watches is from the auctioneers of Phillips, Christie’s and Antiquorum, who regularly have auctions with the most desirable and searched (vintage) watches. Check their websites if you want to keep up with the latest auctions.
If you know of any watch auctioned that should be in this list, please let us know!
Click on one of the models below to check the whole gallery in large format:
Patek Philippe Ref. 1518A
Patek Philippe Ref. 5016A-010
Patek Philippe Ref. 1527
Rolex ref. 6062 Bao Dai
Patek Philippe Ref. 130
Patek Philippe Ref. 5004T
Patek Philippe Ref. 1415HU Platinum
Rolex ref. 6263 Oyster Cosmograph Paul Newman
Patek Philippe Ref. 5208T-010
If you are looking for the oldest watch known, take a look at this page. You can find the list of oldest watch brands in the world here.