Some people in your life demand the best and refuse to settle for anything less. And some people in your life just like loud, gaudy stuff — and who can blame them? Who wouldn’t want a mechanical watch that does just about everything other than balance your checkbook or change the channel on the TV? Here are 15 watches for those in your life who demand the finest things.
Ochs und Junior Perpetual Calendar
This customizable offering from Ochs und Junior features indications for the day, date, month, leap or common year and a power reserve indicator, and it’s accurate until the year 2100 — all without manual adjustment.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Self-Winding Chronograph
A chronograph with a diamond-studded bezel and a rubber strap? This one may be hard to pull off unless you run your own record label, but if you can do it, the Offshore is a hell of a statement piece.
F.P. Journe Octa Automatique Reserve
Available in numerous case materials and with different handsets, this beauty from F.P. Journe is boutique watchmaking at its finest, with a timeless design that will look fresh for decades.
Rolex Sky Dweller
This is the watch you buy after winning your first Grammy. There’s a utilitarian way to display a second time zone, and then there’s the yellow gold, champagne-dialed Sky Dweller, which screams a second time zone at you.
Piaget Gouverneuer
This incredibly elegant piece from Piaget manages to fit a mechanical movement with perpetual calendar, retrograde day/night display and second time zone into a rose gold case that’s only 10.55mm thick.
H. Moser & Cie Endeavor Tourbillon
With its beautiful fumé dial devoid of indices or logo, the white gold Endeavor Tourbillon could almost be mistaken for a much simpler watch, were it not for the exposed, double hairspring-equipped tourbillon whirring away inside.
Patek Philippe 5327R
An automatic perpetual calendar from the best watchmaker in the world need not be gaudy. The 5327R’s dial manages to convey an enormous amount of information without looking cluttered, and the rose gold case is a perfect 39mm.
Urwerk UR-110
Polarizing as some of its products are, it’s difficult to deny Urwerk’s capacity to craft wristwatches that are truly different. The UR-110 is sure to turn heads with its unusual revolving satellite complication and remarkable engineering.
Breguet Classique Complications 5317
A super-complicated watch available in pink gold, yellow gold or platinum from one of the world’s most historic watchmakers, the Classique Complications 5317 features a sapphire case back to display its exquisite movement.
Lange & Söhne Triple Split
There’s complicated watchmaking, and then there’s this thing, which can measure comparative timing intervals of up to 12 hours, completely mechanically. Housed in a white gold case, it’s impossible not to turn heads with the Triple Split.
MB&F Horlogical Machine No. 9
Inspired by aeronautical and automotive design, the No. 9 looks like something distinctly futuristic, yet simultaneously retro. Pair it with your vintage Bugatti Atlantic or Jaguar XKSS and know that you’ve arrived.
Laurent Ferrier Tourbillon Double Spiral Galet Classic Dual
A beautiful, understated timepiece from one of the masters of independent watchmaking, this unusual design showcases a tourbillon from the bottom cage through a window in its elegant, restrained dial.
Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planetarium
This offering from Van Cleef & Arpels displays a miniaturized version of the solar system with planets that actually revolve around a tiny sun. Cased in solid gold, this incredible complication has to be seen to be believed.
Greubel Forsey GMT Earth
If you’re looking for a complicated watch, look no further. The GMT Earth actually provides a 360 degree view of the planet from one pole to the other in the form of a three-dimensional globe.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Calibre 2755
A tourbillon-equipped, minute-repeating perpetual calendar in your choice of four precious metals and finishes, the Calibre 2755 is the type of timepiece one pictures when calling to mind high-end Swiss watchmaking.
