Luxury Watches
A recent survey has identified which
wrist watches are considered to be the best by affluent consumers
 A good
wristwatch does more than tell time. Of course, many expensive watches can
display the phases of the moon, the time of year, the precise second that
just slipped away, and can even remind the wearer of an appointment. But
the great ones complement your life, accessorize your wardrobe, becomes an
heirloom to pass along to future generations and, as James Bond has taught
us, in a tight spot become a very handy knuckleduster.
The thought of knocking out someone's teeth with $50,000 worth of watch
wrapped around your fist might seem a bit extravagant. Watches in this
price category are also works of art. They are exquisite mechanisms
created by talented craftsmen who do the seemingly impossible with gold,
diamonds, springs, gears, and tiny tools. If you ever wondered why the
best Swiss watches cost so much, just imagine a microchip, and then
imagine it was made by hand, and you begin to comprehend the layers of
delicacy, skill, and precision we're talking about.
That is why at the top of the watch chain, so to speak, the price of a
Swiss-made Patek Philippe or Breguet can equal and quickly surpass most
Americans' annual salary. For those people fortunate enough to be able to
afford one, or more, of these high-end timepieces, the decision on which
one to buy is rarely just about how well it can tell time.
   
For many connoisseurs, what makes a watch desirable is the number of
complications it can pack within its slender case. (Complications are
mechanical functions of the watch other than the hours, minutes, and
seconds.) The more complications, the more valuable the watch. In
December, 1999, Sotheby's sold a watch with 24 complications for $11
million. The watch that holds the record for the most complications is a
pocket watch Patek Philippe created in honor of their 150th anniversary in
1989. It has 33 complications including the date of Easter and a celestial
chart with 2,800 stars.
Other watch fanciers are less enthusiastic about the complications than
they are about the bling. These customers want diamonds on their diamonds
and often favor larger watches that can better display them.
For both first-timers entering the world of high-end watches or
chronophiles who have been collecting for years, one of the best ways to
buy is to go with a well-known and trusted brand. But the best-known
luxury watch brands are not always the most sought-after by collectors,
nor do they demand the highest prices.
In a recent survey of the top 17 ultra luxury watchmakers by the Luxury
Institute, a Manhattan-based research group that tracks the wealthiest
consumers in the U.S. and the companies that cater to them, Rolex and
Cartier were the two best-known brands. But in terms of brand status and
overall quality, the respondents to the survey, each of whom has a minimum
net worth of $5 million, said the winners were...
Luxury
watches have long been recognized as a symbol of success. Rolex, Cartier,
Patek Philippe, TAG Heuer, and other popular brands of luxury watches
demand instant respect and admiration.
While a watch’s primary purpose is to display the time, more and more of
today’s watches offer additional benefits. Some serve as two-way radios,
wrist mounted computers, or even display your position on the earth's
surface using GPS. The sophisticated capabilities of modern watches boggle
the mind.
But while watches in general have increased in their utility, some go far
beyond the latest bells and whistles and offer something more: watches
that are built to last a lifetime.
These premier watches are known as luxury watches. There are a few things
you should know before deciding on which luxury watch to purchase:
Automatic luxury watches versus Quartz - First, you need to understand
what makes luxury watches tick (literally).
When shopping for a luxury watch, it is very important to know the
difference between an automatic watch that doesn't use batteries and a
quartz watch that does use them.
An automatic watch is "powered" by physical movement of the wearer’s
wrist. This means of course that if an automatic watch isn't worn (being
stored temporarily) for an extended period of time, the watch will stop
ticking. Simply giving the watch a little shake will put it back into
operation.
On the other hand, a quartz watch is powered by a battery. Typically,
automatic watches cost more than quartz watches because very precise
engineering is required to produce and maintain the proper mechanical
functionality.
Here is an interesting statistic for you: Nine out of ten women’s watches
are quartz because women are generally more interested in the style of the
watch than its power source.
Caliber automatic versus standard automatic - To more clearly understand a
watch’s movement, it's helpful to compare this function to an automobile
engine.
As a Porsche’s engine differs from a Ford’s, watch movements vary
significantly as well. A watch’s movement is measured in calibers: the
higher the caliber, the higher the quality of the movement.
This means that although automatic watch movements function without
batteries, after a while the watch will be slightly off time. A high
caliber watch movement will provide greater precision.
For example, after one month of wearing a standard automatic, low caliber
watch, it will typically be off by approximately twelve minutes, but a
caliber 36 (a high caliber watch movement) will be off by only two
minutes.
If the watch is stored and not being worn, a standard automatic watch will
run for approximately 36 days before it stops ticking. But a watch with a
caliber 36 movement will run for 50 days. And, of course, the higher the
caliber number of the watch movement, the more expensive the watch will
be.
Pick a luxury watch that matches your personality - With the large variety
of luxury watch brands available, it can be overwhelming when trying to
figure out which brand will best meet your watch-wearing needs.
Different watch brands tend to specialize in certain areas of timekeeping.
For example, TAG Heuer is well known for its precise accuracy in the
sports world, especially in golf and auto-racing.
In fact, TAG Heuer’s latest brand ambassador, Tiger Woods, has actually
helped them design the Link Tiger Woods Limited Edition, his own signature
luxury watch. This watch was designed for golfers who prefer to wear a
light watch while on the course.
He even provided input on the design and building of the watch. Its
sub-dial is burgundy (his lucky playing color), which stands for power and
victory. This automatic-movement luxury watch features a black face and is
inscribed with his name.
There are several factors to consider when pondering an investment in a
fine luxury watch. Those mentioned above should get you started on your
way to making the right decision for you.
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