Despite all their useful functionality, which includes potentially saving your life one day, smartwatches aren’t exactly cheap. But shelling out several hundred dollars for a wearable seems like an absolute bargain when compared to the prices you’ll find on some of the most unusual and original mechanical watches released over the past few decades.
It’s no secret that smartwatches and wearable devices have been nibbling away at the market share of traditional timepieces, but that’s just inspired these watchmakers to get even more creative with their mechanical masterpieces. Are they worth the cost of a fancy home or an exotic supercar? For devoted collectors, there’s no debate.
HYT H3
Even without running a single app, mechanical watches can still be a wonderful distraction, particularly those models that leave all of their mechanical functionality exposed, or display the time in unique and unusual ways. The HYT H3 checks boxes in both of those approaches, but truly sets itself apart with a pair of piston-powered bellows that pump a clear green liquid into a clear tube that aligns with a row of rotating cubes that indicate the current hour in the 24-hour format.
The minutes are displayed in an unusual fashion too, with a horizontal indicator that moves back and forth across a numerical scale like a tiny robotic arm. Pricing for the HYT H3 was around $US292,000 ($405,354) back in 2015, so it will probably set you back even more today.
Ressence Type 3
There are two unusual features that set the Ressence Type 3 apart from other mechanical watches. Instead of hands that move around a dial, the Type 3’s entire face, along with three smaller dials with hands painted on them, rotate in unison to update the position of each hand while keeping all the numbers upright and legible.
Seeing it in motion is like watching a carefully choreographed dance routine, but the space between the Type 3’s curved sapphire dome and its moving face is also filled with 3.75 ml of oil, magnifying all of its details and creating an optical illusion that there’s no gap at all. So it’s no surprise that this piece comes with a $US30,000 ($41,646) price tag.
MB&F Horological Machine N°9 ‘Sapphire Vision’
Drawing inspiration from the ‘40s and ‘50s, when the principles of aerodynamic design were just taking the shape, MB&F’s curvy Horological Machine N°9 ‘Sapphire Vision’ would look like a retro-futuristic spaceship were it not for the premium leather strap it’s attached to. Unlike most watches, reading the time on this timepiece — which is the only function it offers — is done through a small window on the side.
The rest of the watch is covered in a bulbous sapphire crystal dome, revealing all of the complicated mechanics inside, including a pair of spinning balance wheels that connect to a planetary differential which averages their movements to improve the watch’s time-keeping accuracy. So, for $US440,000 ($610,808), it reduces the risk of you being a few seconds late for a meeting.
Romain Jerome Moon Orbiter
Most companies still making traditional mechanical watches tend to be conservative with their designs, to ensure a timeless appeal that will help the investment increase in value over time. And then there’s Romain Jerome, who’s incorporated everything from Donkey Kong to Pikachu into its timepieces. The Moon Orbiter, as the name implies, incorporates something especially unique: a small amount of actual moon dust and metal salvaged from the Apollo 11 spacecraft and mission. It also happens to be a remarkable piece of engineering, with a flying tourbillon placed front and centre, but that’s not the main reason collectors will be willing to shell out $US115,000 ($159,643) for it.
Jacob & Co. Astronomia Tourbillon
If you’re just into mechanical watches because you find their complicated mechanical movements absolutely mesmerising in motion, you’re clearly not alone. The Jacob & Co. Astronomia Tourbillon takes its movements to a whole other level with what looks like a carousel of cogs and gears in constant rotation under a large sapphire crystal dome. In addition to a small time display that always remains properly oriented as makes its way around the watch, a spinning Earth made from white gold makes constant orbits too, across from a one carat briolette cut diamond across from it.
You need to see it in motion to really appreciate the engineering and design here, but try not to fall in love with the timepiece, as when it debuted in 2014, it sold for around $US548,000 ($760,734).
A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication
When a watchmaker claims that it can only build one of its most complicated timepieces every year, and that it will only be producing six of that model in total, you can safely assume you’ll be digging deep in your pockets for the privilege of strapping one to your wrist. Such is the case with the A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication. Debuting in 2013 but based on a pocketwatch designed and built back in 1902, the Grand Complication is assembled from 876 parts and includes features like chimes on the quarter hour, dials on the face for the time and date, and an advanced chronograph that can keep track of two splits at the same time: a rare feature among mechanical time keepers that may or may not help justify its $US2.3 ($3) million price tag.
Azimuth SP-1 Crazy Rider
It’s not uncommon for watch enthusiasts to also be gear heads, given the similar complexity of motorised vehicles like cars and motorcycles. Watchmaker Azimuth, inspired by the classic film Easy Rider, put two and two together and came up with the SP-1 Crazy Rider, which features a literal drive train wrapped around a pair of sprockets that actually turn in unison. These carry a hand that moves along a series of 24 numbers to indicate the current hour, while a more traditional spinning hand indicates the minutes. It’s unique and functional, and at $US5 ($7),200 ($7,219), may not completely bankrupt a collector.
H. Moser Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade
At a quick glance, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume this were an Apple Watch with an upgraded strap in the middle of a software update, but it’s actually a mechanical watch designed to poke fun at Apple’s wearable. Inside the H. Moser Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade is the company’s Calibre HMC 324 movement, which promises 96 hours of time-keeping between windings, but on the front is a minimalist face covered in the same light-absorbing Vantablack paint that once caused an unfortunate museum visitor to fall into an eight foot hole.
It gives the Swiss Alp Watch Final Upgrade the appearance of having an OLED display, an illusion which is further reinforced with a spinning ‘thinking’ icon that runs indefinitely, even though the timepiece doesn’t have software upgrades. It’s a fun alternative to the distractions of a smartwatch, with better ‘battery’ life, but at $US30,800 ($42,757), is far less affordable.
Jacob & Co. Epic SF24
A smart watch with a high-res screen can recreate the appearance of almost any kind of display imaginable, including the classic split-flap screens once used at airports and train stations around the world to indicate departure and arrival times. But seeing the split flap effect on a watch is more impressive when it’s real and recreates the unique mechanics behind those types of displays. That’s what the Jacob & Co. Epic SF24 brings to wrists, with a second time zone option featuring a scrollable list of cities and a split flap numerical display indicating the current hour elsewhere in the world. Since it’s so small, the watch doesn’t recreate the unique sound of hundreds of flaps adjusting at the same time, which might be a bit disappointing if you drop $US68,000 ($94,398) on this piece.
Patek Philippe Calibre 89
Designed for the pocket instead of the wrist, the Calibre 89 debuted in 1989, after nine years of development, to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of watchmaker Patek Philippe. Just four were ever manufactured, each made from a different precious metal (yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, and platinum) but the limited availability was also due to the complexity of the timepiece. The Calibre 89 weighed in at 1 kg and featured 1,728 components that included 24 moving hands, a thermometer, and even a star chart. When it debuted in 1989, it was the most complicated mechanical watch to date: a distinction it held for 26 years.
It featured 33 complications, which are features that don’t involve displaying the time, and with a price tag of around $US5 ($7) million each, it’s hard to imagine the Calibre 89 ever actually being stuffed into a pocket.
Christophe Claret Aveticum
At its peak, the Roman empire spread far across Europe, even well into Switzerland, where relics from a town called Aventicum (now a Swiss city called Avenches) included a gold bust of Marcus Aurelius found perfectly preserved inside a pipe. That discovery was the inspiration for Christophe Claret’s Aveticum, which features a clever hologram in the middle of its face surrounded by Roman numerals and hands that run around its outer edge. The watch features a Mirascope — a set of convex mirrors placed atop each other — which makes a three-millimetre bust of Aurelius appear to float above the watch’s face when viewed from certain angles. It’s a neat trick, and one that will set you back around $US50,000 ($69,410).