Designer watches are products of true craftsmanship, merging luxury and reliability. Top luxury brands create quality timepieces that showcase great design and optimal quality, designed to last you a lifetime. With luxury watches selling for thousands and sometimes even millions of dollars, these timepieces are a considerable expenditure. Deciding which watch brand is the best fit for you can take some time and research. So let’s look at some of the most popular watch brands currently on the market.
1. Patek Philippe
2. Audemars Piguet
3. Vacheron Constantin
4. Hublot
5. Lange & Söhne
6. Jaeger-LeCoultre
7. Rolex
8. Breguet & Fils
9. Chopard
10. Girard-Perregaux
11. Blancpain
12. Cartier
13. IWC Schaffhausen
14. Ulysse Nardin
15. Panerai
16. Piaget
17. Breitling
18. Omega
19. Montblanc
20. Tag Heuer
PATEK PHILLIPPE
Patek Phillippe produce some of the most coveted and high-end timepieces in the world, fetching millions of dollars for some of their rarer models. This prestigious watch brand with a history of innovative designs, has long been favored by royalty.
Famous wearers: Queen Victoria, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert Downey Jnr, John Mayer, Nicolas Sarkozy
Price range: $15,000 – $1 million+
Most expensive Patek Philippe sold: Henry Graves Jr.’s Supercomplication watch for $24 million in 2014
AUDEMARS PIGUET
Still owned today by its original founding families, Audemars Piguet is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world.
Famous wearers: James Corden, Tom Cruise, Lebron James, Usher
Price range: $7,000 – $850,000+
Most expensive Audemars Piguet sold: Signed Audemars Piguet Geneve Leap Year Perp for $2.66 million.
VACHERON CONSTANTIN
Classic Swiss watch manufacturer Vacheron Constantin dates back to 1755 and Napoleon Bonaparte was an owner of one of their timepieces.
Famous wearers: Marlon Brando, Donald Trump, Kate Bosworth, Rick Ross
Price range: $18,000 – $6 million+
Most expensive Vacheron Constantin sold: King Fouad for $2.77 million.
TAG HEUER
Like many high-end watch companies, Tag Heuer was established in Switzerland. Popular among racecar drivers, Tag Heuer was also the first watch brand to go into space.
Famous wearers: Patrick Demsey, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Barack Obama
Price range: $1,500 – $10,000+
Most expensive Tag Heuer sold: Steve McQueen’s Heuer for $799,500.
A. LANGE & SÖHNE
Founded in 1845 in Germany, A. Lange & Sohne closed its doors 1948 after the post-war Soviet administration municipalized the company’s property. However, they went back into business in 1990 and have gone on to make their mark on the watchmaking industry with their highly complicated timepieces.
Famous wearers: Vladimir Putin, Carmelo Anthony
Price range: $15,000 – $1 million+
Most expensive A. Lange & Söhne sold: The Platinum Tourbillon for $333,000.
JAEGER-LECOULTRE
Famous for its intricate designs, Jaeger-LeCoultre is famed for creating the world’s smallest watch caliber.
Famous wearers: Robert Downey Jr., January Jones, Matt Damon, Queen Elizabeth II
Price range: $5,000 – $2 million+
Most expensive Jaeger-LeCoultre sold: Atmos 561 for $825,000.
ROLEX
Despite the soaring popularity of Rolex’s iconic watches, each timepiece is still made by hand. Internationally recognized as a status symbol, Rolex watches are forever in high demand.
Famous wearers: Justin Timberlake, Mark Wahlberg, Orlando Bloom, David Beckham, Kanye West
Price range: $5,000 – $650,000+
Most expensive Rolex sold: Bao Dai Rolex for $5 million.
HUBLOT
Part of the LVMH group, Hublot is one of the younger watch brands, established in 1980. In 2010 they were appointed the official Watchmaker of Formula 1.
Famous wearers: Kylie Jenner, Kobe Bryant, Jay Z
Price range: $4,200 – $5 million+
Most expensive Hublot sold: Hublot King Power Model Limited Edition Tourbillon for $891,723.
BREGUET & FILS
Founded in 1775, Breguet is one of the oldest watchmaking companies in the world, famed for their coin-edge cases.
Famous wearers: Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill
Price range: $7,000-$400,000+
Most expensive Breguet sold: No. 2667 Precision Stop Watch from 1814 for $4.7 million.
CHOPARD
Chopard began in 1860 by creating ladies watches. In 2013, they began promoting their products as using ethically sustainable gold.
Famous wearers: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Colin Firth
Price range: $5,040 – $160,000+
GIRARD-PERREGAUX
Most expensive Chopard sold: Chopard 210 Karat $26 million in 2014[luxury watch]GIRARD-PERREGAUX
Established in Switzerland in 1791, Girard-Perregaux produce prestigious handcrafted watches. In 1880, Constant Girard manufactured the first major commercial production of a wristwatch.
Famous wearers: Hugh Jackman, Kobe Bryant, Quentin Tarantino, Pierce Brosnan
Price range: $5,000 – $600,000+
Most expensive Girard-Perregaux sold: 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon for $176,000.
BLANCPAIN
From 1735 up until 1932, Blancpain was under the ownership of the Blancpain family. However, the final Blancpain’s daughter did not wish to go into the watch industry. It is currently part of The Swatch Group.
Famous wearers: Vladimir Putin, Francis Ford Coppola, Jacques Cousteau
Price range: $7,500 – $1.5 million+
Most expensive Blancpain sold: Marilyn Monroe’s cocktail watch for $250,000.
CARTIER
Cartier is a Parisian jewelry and watch company, with a history of popularity amongst celebrities and royals.
Famous wearers: John F Kennedy, Sofia Vergara, Angelina Jolie
Price range: $2,300 – $2.5 million+
Most expensive Cartier watch sold: Panther Bangle Watch for $660,00.
IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
The motto of IWC Schaffhausen is Probus Scafusia, meaning “good, solid craftsmanship from Schaffhausen”.
Famous wearers: Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans
Price range: $3,950 – $750,000+
Most expensive IWC Schaffhausen watch sold: Il Destriero Scafusia for $425,000.
ULYSSE NARDIN
Founded in 1846, Ulysse Nardin’s headquarters have held the same location since 1865.
Famous wearers: Michael Jordan, Larry King
Price range: $2,300 – $285,000
Most expensive Ulysse Nardin watch sold: Ulysse Nardin Royal Blue Tourbillon has been known to sell for as much as $1.25 million.
PANERAI
One of the few non-Swiss watch companies on the list, Panerai is an Italian brand. Founded in 1860, the brand entered into a partnership with legendary car manufacturer Ferrari from 2005-2010.
Famous wearers: Sylvester Stallone, Bill Clinton, Hugh Grant
Price range: $4,000 – $1 million
Most expensive Panerai watch sold: 1955 Luminor for $478,000.
PIAGET
Known for their delicately enameled pieces, The Luxury Institute jewelry brand study placed Piaget as the 6th most prestigious jewelry brand back in 2008.
Famous wearers: Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Palermo
Price range: $7,000 – $3.3 million
Most expensive Piaget watch sold: Retrograde Sliding Clock for $500,300.
BREITLING
In April this year, luxury Swiss watch makers Breitling was sold for an enormous $870 million. Breitling has long been the watch brand of choice for aviation industry and has appeared in the James Bond movie “Thunderball”.
Famous wearers: John Travolta, David Beckham
Price range: $3,000 – $280,000.
OMEGA
The Omega Speedmaster, worn by Buzz Aldrin in 1969, made history by becoming the very first watch on the moon.
Famous wearers: Daniel Craig, Elvis Presley, Steve Carrell
Price range: $1,000 – $708,742
Most expensive Omega watch sold at auction: Seamaster Planet Ocean in Casino Royale for $350,250.
MONTBLANC
Montblanc was founded in 1911 by a banker from Hamburg and an engineer from Berlin. Originally a luxury pen manufacturer, the brand now produces luxury watches and jewelry as well.
Famous wearers: Hugh Jackman,
Price range: $2,000 – $388,600
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