Greetings, readers; and here we are again to discuss luxury, or a lack of it. Now, while the world takes it for granted, a luxury watch is not so solely for its price point due to exclusive/classic designs, precious metals or gems. Things depend more upon the movement, the construction and a fine pedigree in luxury watch-making. And by pedigree, we mean historically-earned respect for workmanship, innovation and quality of materials. All three are important and cannot be substituted under any circumstances.
And here from, we move to a short list giving some idea about the outer peripheries of luxury-dom.
a. Rolex:
i. Daytona Cosmograph [starts from $11,000]: Outran the Air King because it doesn’t depreciate in value, especially when in steel. You may hold this equal to steel watches from Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Blancpain Vacheron Constantin, Breitling, Blancpain and Jaeger-LeCoultre.
ii. Day-Date President [starts from USD 25,000]: Popular among the successful and exceptionally rich people for decades. 18K yellow, white or red gold comes as the first choice in material, or there is platinum if you want, set with diamonds on the dial and the bezel.
b. Hublot Big Bang [$14,000]: This is by far the most popular watch collection from Hublot. Though in stainless steel, they start retailing at fourteen thousand dollars.
c. Omega Seamaster: Liquidmetal Titanium [$7,900 – $10,600]: Comes both as a chronograph and a normal chronometer in Caliber 8500 and Caliber 9300 (chronograph). This one has its co-axial escapement and silicium balance spring as its prime USP. Apart from titanium, it is ceramic and zirconium that went into it.
d. Patek Philippe Calatrava Officer’s Watch [$ 25,800]: So far, it’s the costliest in the list but is one of the low-scoring stallions out of the Patek stable. It comes both in white and yellow gold and is an epitome in simplicity and sophistication. But then again, unless you are a true luxury enthusiast, chances are bleak you will shell out even that small price (in terms of Patek).
In conclusion:
To the plebian mind, the luxury watch world ends with Rolex; those living it for some time know it starts with Omega and Patek is just somewhere near the endpoint. Hublot is for the starters. But then again, there are a few that are known only within the circles; once you digest well the info already given, it’s time to move on to the next part.
