Parmigiani Kalpagraphe Chronometre
With its distinctive case shape and new in-house made integrated automatic chronograph movement, the Parmigiani Kalpa is certainly something uncommon. Add its rather large size and heavy (literally) volume of gold, and you have a statement watch for large-wristed luxury lovers that combines the difficult to merge notions of being communicatively loud, while also demonstrating a fair degree of refined taste. This Parmigiani watch (hands-on here) isn’t just a good value given the combination of precious materials and high-quality finishing, but in many ways represents the best of what the quirky but legitimate Swiss watch brand has to offer. Price: $35,000
IWC Portugieser 150th Anniversary Limited Edition White Dial
As IWC celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, the brand released a slew of limited edition “celebration” watches. Among them is a particularly nice limited edition model (Hands-On here) that I think will delight collectors as well as lay watch lovers seeking something timeless that they can wear with pretty much anything they like. IWC really focused on the details here, with a wearable 42mm wide steel case and a very easy to read white dial (we can’t say the same about the blue-dialed sister model) with dark hour markers. Inside is an in-house made automatic chronograph movement, which helps up the value proposition to most collectors who once knew similar models as using sourced movements. Price: $7,150
Richard Mille RM53-01 Tourbillon Pablo Mac Donough
It’s $900,000 so don’t get any wild ideas about trying to afford one on anything but an oligarch’s budget. Having said that, Richard Mille still knows how to keep the dream alive for those who seek the world’s most exclusive luxury toys. Oddly enough this luxury item is meant to be beat up – well, at least survive being beat up. Honoring the brand’s polo-playing ambassador Pablo Mac Donough, the RM53-01 is meant to be worn while on horseback as mallets and balls fly about. In addition to a tourbillon-based movement suspended on tiny metal cables, the carbon TPT case is fitted with a layered sapphire crystal which is produced similarly to shatter-resistant modern car windshields. Price: $900,000
Ulysse Nardin Freak Vision
Last year in 2017, Ulysse Nardin showed off a concept watch known as the Freak InnoVision, which contained a plethora of genuinely innovative technical features. Just a year later, three of those innovations have made their way into a new generation of the brand’s famous silicon-based Freak watch family. Smartly modern with a fresh take on the cult-classic timepiece range, the Freak Vision is not only the first automatic-winding Freak watch, but is also the first wristwatch to contain the brand’s “Grinder” winding system also produced from silicon. Price: 95,000 CHF
Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic
What’s most impressive in the Baume & Mercier Baumatic is the price and focus on consumer expectations and requests. For well under $3,000, Baume & Mercier will afford you an exclusive automatic movement with five days of power reserve, magnetic-resistant parts, and an optional COSC Chronometer certification which is a testament to its performance. The Baumatic watches (hands-on here) themselves are classic, with a vintage design-inspired appeal, good case quality, and healthy serving of buyer marketability. Price: $2,790
A. Lange & Söhne 1815 ‘Homage To Walter Lange’
German A. Lange & Sohne‘s modern father – Walter Lange – recently passed away after helping to usher the brand into the modern era. As a testament to Mr. Lange, the brand decided to produce a few versions of an interesting product important to the Lange family with a complication based on a historic timepiece from the region. The 1815 Tribute to Walter Lange watch has two seconds hands. One (the subsidiary dial) operates as normal and works in conjunction with the hour and minute hands as one might expect. The second, can be stopped and started at will, allowing the user to time small increments of time as often as they like. Practical? Not particularly. A fun object to play with in order to release idle tension? Nothing might be better for 2018 if you are seeking it in a classic-looking high-luxury watch. A. Lange & Sohne will produce the models as a limited edition mostly because of the peculiar functionality as well as the fact that no matter how simple the concept appears, its internal construction makes it difficult to produce in any high quantity. This particular A. Lange & Sohne 1815 model is collector-bait if there ever was any! Price: €47,000
Cartier Santos
Cartier is among the few brands with a truly lovely square watch for men. The historic Santos (hands-on here) has a design whose origin dates back about 100 years at this point, and continues to look inspired. Cartier totally redesigned the Santos with a thinner case profile, new bracelet attachment system, and the use of an in-house made automatic movement. There is no shortage of models either, with the new Santos coming in two sizes, along with various metal options. Cartier may have closely followed Apple in regards to the technical features of the bracelet, but who cares if the final result is worth it? Price: $6,850-$43,200
HYT H2O
“H2O” is a fitting name for a brand whose principle theme is using liquid in mechanical watches as a means to indicate time. For this specific HYT watch, the H20 name is actually a contraction – meaning to imply that the watch is a combination of the brand’s H2 model and the more recent HO model. The latter’s case and movement housing have been tweaked, and the amazing-to-view movement of the H2 model makes for a fitting main attraction in the modern-looking timepiece with its traditional mechanical parts and less-common features such as the bellows for the liquid. Price: $95,000 sihh.org