What's the Most Expensive Watch You Can Own? (If You're Insanely Rich)

These most expensive watches show that time is money.

15 Most Expensive Watches to Own, Ranked

We don't think of wearing classic timepieces much anymore since we can tell time from our phones or smartwatches.

But, as the saying goes, the rich are different. Classic watches are still highly collectible and go for big bucks when sold at auction.

The most expensive watches not only tell time but are also fashionable and make great investments.

15. Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 Oyster Albino

Value: $4 million

Bottom line: Guitarist Eric Clapton is a high-end watch collector, and this rare watch was once in his collection.

The Oyster Albino's name originates from the chronograph subdials' unique silvered coloring, stainless steel case and bracelet, and Caliber 727. Only four of these luxury watches were ever made.

14. Breguet Antique Number 2667

Value: $4.5 million

Bottom line: The Breguet No. 2667 was made in 1814, and its design is rare because it was new for Breguet at the time.

This 18-carat yellow gold pocket watch has two oscillating movements based on the chronometer principle.

13. Louis Moinet Meteoris

Value: $4.6 million

Bottom line: If you want an out-of-this-world watch, it will cost you. The Louis Moinet Meteoris is one of just four watches (they are sold together in a set) that is made with a meteorite fragment estimated to be 4.6 billion years old.

The other three watches also contain space rock in the form of asteroids and meteorites.

12. Hublot Big Bang Diamond

Value: $5 million

Bottom line: Hublot’s flagship watch was made from 1,200 diamonds, six of which weigh more than 3 carats. Seventeen people, including a New York City master cutter, created the unique timepiece over a year.

High-profile buyers include Beyonce, who bought one as a gift for her husband, Jay-Z.

11. Patek Philippe Calibre 89

Value: $5.5 million

Bottom line: This watch was created in 1989 as a commemorative piece in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Patek Philippe's existence. The self-proclaimed "most complicated watch in the world" has 33 complications and over 1,700 individual components. It took five years to design and four years to create.

There are four in the series: white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum. Both the yellow gold and sold in 2009 and 2004, respectively, for over $5 million.

10. Patek Philippe Ref. 1527

Value: $5.7 million

Bottom line: The Patek Philippe Ref. 1527 was made in 1943, and while it looks rather standard, it is far from it — the watch was made with over 20 different precious stones and 20-carat rose gold.

This one-of-a-kind watch was created during WWII when production using high-quality resources was unheard of. Furthermore, the company used the 1527 as inspiration for other models going forward.

At the time of this writing, the watch is still available and is housed at the Patek Philippe museum in Switzerland.

9. Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 in Stainless Steel

Value: $11 million

Bottom line: The Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 is one of four similar timepieces. However, the 1518 is unique in that it is made from high-grade steel, which makes it more sought after.

Patek's luxury watches are typically made from rose or yellow gold.

8. Paul Newman Rolex Daytona

Value: $17.6 million

Bottom line: Actor Paul Newman was a Rolex fan, and his watches have fetched top dollar at auction. Just a few years after his first Daytona was sold, another watch consigned by his daughter was put on the auction block.

"Big Red" (for the name "Daytona" in red on the watch face) was given to Newman by his wife Joanne Woodward in 1983, and he wore it until his 2008 death.

Newman was a race car driver, and the watch has the inscription "Drive Carefully – Joanne" on the back.

7. Jacob & Co. Billionaire III

Value: $18 million

Bottom line: Just think of the Billionaire III as a hypercar — there are just 18 units made only for the most exclusive clients.

The Billionaire III comes in 18-carat white gold and is set with emerald-cut diamonds weighing 260 carats.

Producer DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather both own this luxury watch.

6. Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication

Value: $24 million

Bottom line: Say hello to one of the most complex timepieces to ever exist.

Named after and owned by banker Henry Graves Jr. for nearly 60 years, the watch took three years to design and five years to create.

The Supercomplication has a total of 24 different functions, including Westminster chimes, a perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset times, and a celestial map of New York City from the POV of Graves's Fifth Avenue digs.

5. Chopard 201-Carat Watch

Value: $25 million

Bottom line: It's very hard to see the watch face on this multimillion-dollar timepiece because it's nearly consumed by the hundreds of diamonds of different colors and sizes surrounding it.

This Chopard watch has 874 diamonds. At its center is a flawless pink diamond weighing over 15 carats, next to a blue diamond of over 12 carats and another D-color diamond of close to the same size.

When the watch's spring-loaded mechanism is triggered, the three heart-shaped stones open exposing the pear-shaped yellow diamond watch face.

4. Jaeger-LeCoultre Joaillerie 101 Manchette

Value: $26 million

Bottom line: You'll need reading glasses to tell time on the Joaillerie 101 Manchette, as its watch face is extremely tiny.

This timepiece is customizable and displays 576 diamonds and a watch with a sapphire dial. It was gifted to Queen Elizabeth to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee (i.e., 60th year) as the U.K.'s monarch.

3. Breguet Grande Complication Marie-Antoinette

Value: $30 million

Bottom line: Commissioned in 1783, this stunning timepiece took about 40 years to create. While it was intended for Marie Antoinette, she was executed decades before it was completed.

When it was finished in 1827, the Breguet company held onto it for years until it was sold to Sir Spencer Brunton, a flour miller and racehorse owner, in 1887. By the 1920s, it was in the collection of British engineer and industrialist Sir David Lionel Goldsmid-Stern-Salomons.

Sometime after that, it landed in the L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art Museum in Jerusalem but was stolen in April 1983 with 100 other valuable timepieces. It was lost until 2004 when the wife of the person who stole it attempted to sell it. It was recovered in 2007 and returned to the museum.

The 18-karat gold watch with sapphires has a full perpetual calendar, a jumping hour hand and is made of more than 800 parts.

2. Graff Diamonds the Fascination

Value: $40 million

Bottom line: What makes the Fascination one of the most expensive watches in the world is its nearly 153 carats of clear diamonds.

Even more unique to its design is that the watch face is interchangeable with a 38.14-carat flawless, pear-shaped diamond, which can be worn separately as a ring.

1. Graff Diamonds Hallucination

Value: $55 million

Bottom line: It's not the watch itself that makes the Graff Hallucination so expensive; it's everything that surrounds it.

Unveiled in 2014 on Baselworld’s opening day, the piece features 110 rare but colorful diamonds in a variety of cuts surrounding the quartz watch face. Both the watch and the stones are set in a platinum bracelet, only adding value that makes it the most expensive watch ever sold.