Luxury watches have become more than just time-telling devices; they symbolize status, sophistication, and timeless elegance. For Indian collectors and watch enthusiasts, luxury watches from prestigious global brands are objects of desire and long-term investments.
This article takes an in-depth look at the top 10 most expensive watch brands available in India, exploring what makes them unique and why they command such high prices.
1. Rolex: A Legacy of Excellence
Price Range: ₹3 lakhs to ₹1 crore+
Popular Models: Submariner, Daytona, Oyster Perpetual
Rolex watches are widely recognised and associated with prestige and reliability; they are crafted from the best materials available in the world (904L stainless steel, 18k gold) and constructed with mechanical precision. In addition to being a luxury product, Rolex watches also carry a certain inherent functional quality – they can be extremely waterproof and very accurate. Rolex is a brand that is extremely popular in India – one that is sought by high-net worth individuals. For instance, popular models like Daytona and Submariner carry a huge premium in the pre-owned secondary market.
2. Patek Philippe: Masters of Complication
Price Range: ₹15 lakhs to ₹10 crores+
Popular Models: Nautilus, Calatrava, Grand Complications
Besides Rolex, Patek Philippe is probably the world’s top watchmaker. For all the elaborate wristwatch making it does, Patek Philippe is most renowned with its ‘Grand Complication’ wrist watches with perpetual calendars, moon phases and minute repeaters (a device that generates chimes on the wrist).
If you have a Patek Philippe in India, you’re the coolest kid in town. While some Patek pieces grow in value over the years, they’re true collectors’ items (when we parted ways with a vintage Patek, they paid us over four times what we paid for the watch). The Nautilus and the Calatrava top many collectors’ wish lists.
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3. Audemars Piguet: Bold and Iconic Designs
Price Range: ₹10 lakhs to ₹7 crores+
Popular Models: Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore
It was Audemars Piguet that popularised the luxury watch as an object of conspicuous consumption, when in 1972 it released its Royal Oak line, the first luxury sports watch to be made with a stainless-steel case (inspired by marine chronometers) and rippled octagonal bezel, and an integrated bracelet that ran all the way from the watch’s face to a metal buckle.
Its distinctive exterior gives the Royal Oak – which appeals to a large following of celebrities, athletes and well-to-do buyers in India – an unconventional pedigree in a realm of uniform luxury. With its haute horlogerie movements and often experimental designs, its timepieces are much-coveted items among collectors with a penchant for extra profligacy.
4. Hublot: Fusion of Tradition and Innovation
Price Range: ₹5 lakhs to ₹1 crore+
Popular Models: Big Bang, Classic Fusion, Spirit of Big Bang
The fact that Hublot is based on a philosophy of ‘The Art of Fusion’, using traditional watchmaking techniques matched with unconventional materials such as carbon fibre and ceramics, speaks volumes.
Accessorising becomes a statement of intent, and no company knows better how to make that statement more loudly than Hublot. An example of luxe futuristics at its most fascinating, Hublot Its hallmark Big Bang series is an absolute favourite with India’s tycoons. Limited editions and collaborations – the Ferrari or UEFA Champions League models for instance – are much-prized by collectors.
5. Breitling: Precision and Performance
Price Range: ₹3 lakhs to ₹50 lakhs
Popular Models: Navitimer, Chronomat, Superocean
But, like IWC, Breitling has categorised its logo in dedicated aviation and diving watches, non-complicated chronometer-certified movements with tool-watch design cues for a predominantly masculine audience. The Navitimer, with its slide-rule bezel crowned by their signature winged-instrument logo, is an incredibly popular watch in India, especially with pilots. The combination of performance and luxury position Breitling as a go-to brand for those looking for a ‘premium tool watch’.
6. TAG Heuer: A Blend of Luxury and Sportsmanship
Price Range: ₹2 lakhs to ₹15 lakhs
Popular Models: Carrera, Monaco, Aquaracer
TAG Heuer has a long association with motor racing; hexagonal tachymetre bezel is hallmark of the brand Acquiring a luxury watch from a brand such as TAG Heuer gives immediate prestige and the association with motor racing. More importantly, TAG Heuer is known for taking the quality of its components, design and manufacture from the highest end of the luxury watch market, and selling the watches at a level that is appropriate for a broader base of increasingly affluent consumers than other brands in the luxury watch category. In India, TAG Heuer is still considered to present an association with achievement and success, particularly for young achievers and professionals who are seeking a sports watch with a high degree of performance for its price. Young men and women in India are likely to opt, for example, for models that include the Monaco, which has, and the Carrera car association, while still
7. A. Lange & Söhne: German Precision at its Best
Price Range: ₹20 lakhs to ₹7 crores+
Popular Models: Lange 1, Zeitwerk, Saxonia
Although many of the world’s finest watches still hail from the Swiss, the Germans have the only brand that truly resides in the rarified air of haute horlogerie: A. Lange Söhne, based in the eastern German town of Glashütte.
Its watches are executed with an almost obsessive attention to detail, and the styling on its most complicated models can show just as much restraint and understatement as its more restrained siblings. The Lange 1 and the Zeitwerk are among the rare watches whose beauty extends beyond their complicated innards to their unassuming exteriors.
An A Lange Söhne watch on an owner’s wrist in India can be a rare indication of a delicate and sophisticated sense of mechanical horology shared by few connoisseurs, but loved by serious collectors.
8. Bell & Ross: Military-Inspired Luxury
Price Range: ₹2 lakhs to ₹20 lakhs
Popular Models: BR 01, BR 05, Vintage Series
The watches themselves are inspired by pilot instruments and military hardware, and when you wear a Bell Ross, it is meant to be a mark of legibility, precision and performance. They have this very trademark square case that’s very recognisable, and they appeal a lot to people in those categories who are attracted to an unconventional design that combines the functionalities of form and function with that very masculine, military breed of design. In India, they’ve been associated with collections such as the BR 01 and BR 05, which are the rugged ones that are at the more extreme, military-inspired ends of their aesthetics.
9. Bovet: Artistic Craftsmanship and Heritage
Price Range: ₹30 lakhs to ₹10 crores+
Popular Models: Fleurier, Virtuoso Series, Recital
All Bovet watches are hand-decorated with abundant ornamentation – there’s hand engraving, miniature painting and enamelling. Many are highly complicated models with multiple functions like a tourbillon, retrograde displays and perpetual calendar. In the Indian retail market, the Bovet brand appeals to an elite class of buyers seeking something special – artistic and personalized – and often exclusive in nature. They come as limited editions, so a model number carries with it a sense of rarity and a high collectible value.
10. Cartier: A Perfect Fusion of Jewelry and Watchmaking
Price Range: ₹3 lakhs to ₹2 crores+
Popular Models: Santos, Ballon Bleu, Tank
Cartier watches are practically synonymous with the notion of ‘jeweller of kings’ — a proud mantle since 1904. There may not be a stronger watch brand commanding gentility, true luxury, and a sense as high jewellery. From timepieces such as the Tank and Ballon Bleu, crafted as iconic dress watches, any Cartier on the wrist is welcomingly discreet, while also elegant and wonderfully refined in its sense of design. In India, from private business barons to fashion mavens and celebrities, Cartier reigns supreme among people who are more discerning about the aesthetics trumped above other factors, such as its movements or complications.
Also Read: – Watch size guide of wrist for female And Male
Conclusion
Luxury watches are objects of taste, status and personality. In India, they also function as fashion accessories – and as long-term investment portfolios. Rolex is simple exquisiteness for the eternally simple. Patek goes beyond their certified complications with three-dimensional poetry of time. Audemars Piguet is the pure, untamed and raw appeal of a Royal Oak. Then there is Bovet, a brand that does beautiful and artistic pieces. These brands offer something for any person who is a dedicated, committed and attentive collector.
With the rising tide in India’s luxury market, the demand for these luxury watch models will soar with time, becoming a centrepiece brand for fashion and lifestyle items.