Top Luxury Watches
The luxury fashion world entices women to dress from top to bottom with top luxury brands. For women, luxury watches are just one among many luxury fashion items.
It's different for men, who are confined to dark suits and shoes. The fashion accessories through which men can express their wealth and power are top luxury watches. And while opinions vary, top luxury watches typically include brands like Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Blancpain, Audemars Piguet, Baume & Mercier, Breitling and Rolex.
Two
of today's better known top luxury watches belong to
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. Putin's watch is
a $60,000 Patek Philippe (right), which pales in comparison to Berlusconi's watch: a $540,000 Vacheron Constantin.Patek Philippe, Chopard, Vacheron Constantin and Blancpain all make watches that top $1 million. These truly top watches require intricate components and meticulous workmanship. Blancpain 1735, for example, has 750 components and require a year to assemble.
History's top watches resulted from a 20th century ego fest between Henry Graves, a banker, and James Packard, an industrialist. For over a decade, Graves and Packard commissioned custom watches that topped the last one commissioned and worn by the other. The watch that won this epic wrist race was the 1933 Patek Philippe, which required 3 years to design, 5 years to make and sold at a Sotheby's auction in 1999 for $11 million.
So, which watch should you buy?