The Most Ridiculous Watches the Auto Industry Has Ever Seen

Jacob & Co. Fast & Furious Twin Turbo

If we’re talking about a car-infused watch with ridiculous design, this watch feels like a good place to start. Evidently, the watch was inspired by The Fast & The Furious, featuring Dom Torretto’s Dodge Charger and Brian’s Supra, the face also features the franchise logo and a grid girl waving two flags. It is, in a word, absurd. The price tag matches, at $580,000. For that kind of cash, it’d be easier to buy the cars featured on the watch’s face.

The limited edition watches, built to commemorate the franchise’s 20th anniversary, are incredibly intricate. The design features an 88-part forged carbon case housing a movement with 832 individual components. The watch features two triple-axis tourbillons rotating at speeds of 24, 48, and 180 seconds on each axis.

It was originally on sale on June 21. You’re probably going to pay a hefty markup for one of these. To boot, only nine of these watches were made, reflecting the number of films in the franchise up to that point.

Richard Mille RM 67 Leclerc

You’ve got to be a pretty great racing driver to have a Richard Mille watch named after you, but that isn’t why most remember this watch. Ahead of last year’s Italian Grand Prix at Imola, Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc was posing for photos when his $320,000 RM 67 was taken right off his arm in Via Salvatori.

At the time, Ferrari was pretty upset about it. In a deleted Tweet, the brand said “Via Salvatori has been completely in the dark for months. We have been reporting this for months. Well, yesterday evening in Via Salvatori, they robbed us. Think of arranging the lamps sooner or later? Asking for a friend.”

As for the watch itself, it is one of the more “athletic” offerings in RM’s lineup. The baseplate and bridges are made from titanium, and the watch rotor is made both of carbon and white gold. The movement is automatic, as F1 drivers just can’t be bothered with the tedium of winding their watches on a press junket.

Richard Mille RM 50-03 McLaren F1

In keeping with the motorsport angle, I’d like to talk about another Richard Mille. This one also features an F1 tie-in. Richard Mille designed the watches in partnership with McLaren, and the team’s drivers – including Fernando Alonso – were wearing the watch in many of their press junkets.

The dials feature some cool F1 tie-ins, like the red, green, and yellow accents and McLaren-branded serial number. The watch itself is absurdly light, thanks to some wild materials. The case is made of a new material called Graph TPT, and other components make heavy use of titanium and carbon fiber. Only 75 of these were made, and the watches retailed for $980,000.

Ferrari Richard Mille RM UP-01

This is the world’s thinnest watch. It is quite literally thinner than a quarter, which for my money, makes it the most impressive watch on this list by some margin. The case and movement measure just 1.75 millimeters thick. This level of engineering, of course, isn’t cheap. RM retails the UP-01 at $1,888,000.

The watch mechanism isn’t automatic, largely because a battery would have meant too much extra fat. Instead, the titanium watch must be hand-wound. Speaking of winding, that must be done with the use of a tool, as a crown would have been too wide.

There’s a far less shouty design here, as well, which is a nice relief from the endless parade of gaudy wrist-borne bricks we’ve examined thus far. A simple face features the Ferrari logo, the winding mechanism, and the hour and minute dials. No more, no less. You could almost call it tasteful, barring the laughable price tag.

Jacob & Co Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon

The crown jewel of our little wristwatch parade is a timepiece so ostentatious, it probably deserves a seat on a reality TV show. In order to wear this watch, you’d have needed to shell out $3M or so- but not for the watch. That is for the Chiron you must have bought to own the watch. Obviously, since Chrion production has ended, that’s no longer a possibility. In comparison, the price of the watch is somewhat reasonable- just $316,745.

What makes this watch so absurd isn’t really the case or the mechanisms – both are really standard fare at this price point, Instead, it is the working replica of the Bugatti Chiron’s 8.0-liter W16 engine. Comprised of 578 near-microscopic parts, the engine case is see-through, which in turn shows the movement of all 16 pistons on a watch-driven crankshaft. Basically, it’s the world’s smallest Bugatti.

While my personal favorite goes to the Ferrari RM UP-01, there’s no doubt that the Chiron Tourbillon is the most ridiculous car-adjacent watch to come about in recent memory. Frankly, it’ll be entertaining to see what brands try to do to one-up the Chiron watch. Perhaps Gordon Murray should get into the watch game?