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The Most Expensive Watches of 2005


Richard Tracy

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Hey Everyone,

I know some of you have seen this Forbes list,

but I though I would post them for, lunch, Tea, or just waste Time Browsing.

See what you can find that these pieces have in common.

Enjoy !

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Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon

$215,000

From Breitling's continuing partnership with Bentley Motors comes this handsome Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon chronograph. Turned out at a rate of only two per month over the next few years, each watch can be customized to the purchaser's particular taste, with options like a selection of wooden rings in the case back. The piece is available in Bentley trim shades, including burl walnut, madrona, birds-eye maple and others. Besides the tourbillon, the very masculine timepiece also dazzles with a nifty 30-second chronograph, thus enabling precise readings to one-sixth of a second. Available in platinum for $215,000, in gold for $152,000 and in other precious metals.

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Patek Philippe

Swiss (Founded 1839)

Ten Day Tourbillon

$240,000

Subtlety is the word for Patek Philippe's Ten Day Tourbillon (aka 5101P) an immensely stylish and highly sophisticated Grand Complication timepiece whose complexities enable a generous ten-day power reserve indicator with tourbillon. Keep your eye on the small second hand and reserve indicator, and the "vintage" rose gold dial--as well as your finances, which will take a $240,000 hit. The handsome platinum rectangular case with its 32 mm movement diameter wears well with a alligator strap.

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Breguet

Swiss (founded 1775)

Classique Grande Complication

$252,800

With its busy dial and icy "blues-steel" hands, Breguet's Classique Grande Complication Minute-Repeater and Perpetual Calendar (aka 5447PT) is really a looker. A platinum 40 mm case surrounds an 18-karat gold dial that's stylishly cluttered with a perpetual calendar complication that displays day, date, retrograde month, leap years and phases of the moon. Forty-hour power reserve means you'll only have to wind every day-and-a-half or so. And each 5447PT comes numbered and signed, so you won't have to worry about mixing it up with somebody else's down at the gym.

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Omega

Swiss (founded 1885)

Skeleton Central Tourbillon

$282,500

Omega has always seemed synonymous with "action-packed"--which is perhaps why one of its Speedmasters was the first watch on the moon. The Swiss firm's Skeleton Central Tourbillon lets you see all the action of its most expensive movement ever, with more than 800 individual pieces, each of them hand-tooled and hand-etched. Omega chose the trickiest of all placements for the tourbillon--smack in the middle of the watch movement. At eight weeks to piece together and $282,500 to buy, it's quite a timepiece.

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IWC

Swiss (founded 1868)

Grande Complication

$300,000

IWC's Grande Complication contains a total of 659 mechanical parts--71 of them jewels--which is pretty impressive given how slender it is. Those parts keep busy too; they are responsible for 21 function and displays, including a minute repeater, four-digit year display, moon phase display made of polished goldstone and a perpetual calendar for the next 500 years. Established in Schaffhausen in eastern Switzerland by an American engineer from Boston named Florentine Ariosto Jones in 1868, IWC--for International Watch Company--today is owned by the Geneva-based luxury conglomerate Compagnie Financière Richemont, which also owns top watchmakers Vacheron Constantin, Baume & Mercier and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Production of the Grande Complication is limited to 50 per year.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre

Swiss (founded 1833)

Gyrotourbillon I

$310,000

Launched late last year, Jaeger-LaCoultre's entry into the crowded tourbillon field takes an intricate turn with the Gyrotourbillon I, whose complication rotates around one axle as well as spherically. Encased in 950 platinum, the watch's Calibre 177 movement includes 512 separate parts, which click along for 150 hours when wound to the limit. And how's that watch face for distinction? The Gyrotourbillon I's dial reveals hours, minutes, seconds, power reserve, ongoing equation of time, perpetual date with two retrograde needles and retrograde perpetual month, along with good ol' leap year on the back. At $310,000 with a nice gray alligator strap, it'll certainly give you something to talk about at cocktail parties--or to explain in detail.

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Audemars Piguet

Swiss (founded 1875)

Royal Oak Tourbillon

$379,000

The fourth of eight timepieces in Audemars Piguet's Tradition d'Exellence Collection, the Royal Oak Tourbillon is one driven wristwatch. Within the sizable 46 mm 950 platinum case is enough cool gadgetry to keep even wandering eyes attentive. Look within the dial cutouts to find the two-barrel power-reserve and stop-work system--each engraved with the watch's lofty designation--as well as a 10 mm tourbillon at 9 o'clock. The 30-minute chronograph stands out against a bold black background, while a double power reserve indicator reveals the juice left for up to ten days. It comes with a platinum bracelet with a folding clasp and is available in a limited edition of 20 pieces.

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Roger Dubuis

Swiss (founded 1995)

Excalibur EX 08

$450,000

For those with an eye for style and a mind that can handle only so much complication, the Excalibur EX 08 from Roger Dubuis should wear nicely. Within the watch's 45 mm, 18-karat polished and satiny gold case rests an eye-catching dial of elegant relief Roman numerals marked by handsome gold hands. Complications include flying tourbillon with its cage set jauntily at 5 o'clock, as well as minute repetition. It looks especially nice with the hand-sewn crocodile strap. This watch is limited to 28 pieces and will set you back $450,000 per tick.

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Parmigiani Fleurier

Swiss (Founded 1996)

Toric Corrector Quantième Perpétual

$477,000

With its orderly face and stately air, Parmigiani Fleurier's Toric Corrector Quantième Perpétual lends a sophisticated and highly efficient presence to any wrist. Unlike so many less-convenient watches, the Toric enables correction of all of its calendar functions with the push of a single Chronograph-style button. Neat. Cool "javelin" hands keep track of the time, while subdials reveal day, month, leap year, retrograde date and precise moon phase display. There's also a minute repeater function and 45 hours of power reserve. Available in a limited edition of six in 950 platinum for $477,000 or in 18-karat pink gold for $346,000.

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Girard-Perregaux

Swiss (founded 1791)

Opera Three

$532,000

Sure, it has a power reserve indicator, a subsecond complication, a minute repeater and a truly elegant face. But what really differentiates Girard-Perregaux's Opera Three from all those other complicated watches is its ability to sound passing hours not with a beep, gong or chime, but with actual tunes. A miniature carillon--i.e., music box--sports 20 blades and a drum spotted with around 150 hand-mounted pins. A convenient selector enables a choice of two different tunes--each of which can be personalized to the wearer's taste. ("Time is on My Side," perhaps?) Lest you fear your melodic wrist might become the equivalent of a novelty car horn, the Opera Three also offers a lever that will disconnect those tunes entirely or play them only upon demand. With a 43 mm platinum case and a crocodile strap, it's a mellifluous timepiece that can be yours for $532,000.

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Blancpain

Swiss (founded 1735)

1735

$839,000

In the No. 2 spot for the second year in a row is Blancpain's ultraslim 1735, named for the year that Jehan-Jacques Blancpain opened his first factory. The 1735 features a half-dozen complications--two more than necessary to qualify as a "grand complication," and perhaps five more than you'll ever really need. The ultraslim, 42 mm platinum case--itself a complication, according to Blancpain's owner, the Swatch Group--holds a perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph, minute repeater, tourbillon and moon phase minder. It takes steady Swiss hands from eight to ten months to piece together all 740 components, and only 18 of a limited run of 30 watches have been assembled to date. With a crocodile strap and 80-hour power reserve, it'll wear well with just about anything--and for quite a while.

Now.. Drum Roll.. The Most Expensive of 2005 is,.... card please...

And....The Winner Is....

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Vacheron Constantin

Swiss (founded 1755)

Tour de l'Ile

$1.5 million

Keeping time seems so simple until you run up against something like the Tour de l'Ile from Vacheron Constantin. After seven years in development and three years of assembly, the Swiss watchmaker marked its 250th anniversary this year with the world's busiest timepiece--at least for now. The Tour de l'Ile has 834 separate parts and 16 complications, including tourbillon, power reserve, striking-mechanism torque, moon phase, perpetual calendar, sunrise time, leap-year indicator, sunset time, sky chart and others. At $1.5 million, it's the priciest timepiece in Vacheron Constantine's anniversary line.

That's it Folks.. any reps of these ??? :whistling:

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No doubt they are all magnificent pieces, with hundreds of intricate, wonderfully laboured parts. Really for the ultra wealthy only. Not being ultra wealthy myself I can only say that it seems like a hell of a lot of money, and, despite the inner workings, none of them are that pleasing to MY eye apart from the Parmigiani, or the Blancpain 1735 which is actually rather stunning.

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What I found in common with most of them was the Tourbillon.

Seems to be the most expensive complication.

That's why I am amazed that our EL has a stunning piece that rivals those Gens any day !

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With Working Tourbillon, and feast your eyes on that artistic engraving..

Go EL,..... doing it For Us ! :thumbsupsmileyanim:

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To this date, my favorite is still the Blancpain 1735. It mat not be the most expensive (still VERY expensive than any of us can afford). How many times, can you say that you have that many complications in one watch? The VC is nice, but I thought having a dual face watch, is just not that practical. that would be my holy grail, if there ever was one that I can afford that is.

ps. most of them all have a busy dial. but I do feel that the Blancpain is very classy looking, and for a Parmagiani that costs $500,000, which had a history of 10 years as a watch house, is hard for anyone to plunk down 500Gs, just my opinion.

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  • 2 months later...
Hey Everyone,

Now.. Drum Roll.. The Most Expensive of 2005 is,.... card please...

And....The Winner Is....

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Vacheron Constantin

Swiss (founded 1755)

Tour de l'Ile

$1.5 million

Keeping time seems so simple until you run up against something like the Tour de l'Ile from Vacheron Constantin. After seven years in development and three years of assembly, the Swiss watchmaker marked its 250th anniversary this year with the world's busiest timepiece--at least for now. The Tour de l'Ile has 834 separate parts and 16 complications, including tourbillon, power reserve, striking-mechanism torque, moon phase, perpetual calendar, sunrise time, leap-year indicator, sunset time, sky chart and others. At $1.5 million, it's the priciest timepiece in Vacheron Constantine's anniversary line.

That's it Folks.. any reps of these ??? :whistling:

Here are some good shots of this beauty...

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  • 7 months later...

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