World’s 3 Most Expensive Watches Are True Gems

Think “blinding”-type of attention. The 3 luxury pieces we’ll discuss today aren’t just heavy in carats, they’re also the world’s most expensive, because they include some of the rarest and flawless precious stones known to man. Until now, at least. So grab your shades and let’s get started.

Chopard 201 Carat – $25 million

When it comes to luxury jewelry and watches, the name Chopard almost immediately comes to mind. With the 201 Carat Watch, Chopard was able to combine the two and create a timepiece that is as startling at first sight as it’s breathtaking upon closer inspection. We’ll explain.

When it was created in 2000, the 201 Carat was the most expensive watch to date, with a price tag of $25 million. It was due to the inclusion of 874 individual stones in a single piece, all of them with remarkable clarity and cuts, set in a combination of yellow and white gold. With a total of 201 carats, hence the not-so-original name, this watch is a stunning, if somewhat confusing, masterpiece.

At first sight, it seems as if the stones are set randomly, and the true beauty of the watch is only revealed upon closer inspection. Also upon closer inspection, you will find the actual watch because, at a first glance, this seems like a diamond bracelet comparable to an explosion of color and brilliance.

At the center of the piece are 3 heart-shaped diamonds (Flawless Fancy Pink at 15.37 carats, VS2 Fancy Blue at 12.79 carats and Flawless D-Color at 11.36 carats), which open like flower petals thanks to a spring-loaded mechanism. Press on a certain diamond and the heart-shaped diamonds will reveal the central watch face hidden within the piece.

The Graff Fascination – $40 million

In 2015, Graff Diamonds introduced to the world their ode to the diamond, a love letter which took the form of the most expensive 3-in-1 piece of jewelry / horology ever created. Indeed, for $40 million, you don’t get just a watch: you also get a diamond bracelet and a ring with a rare, stunning 38.13 carat D Flawless pear-shaped diamond, cut and polished by Graff.

Fascination, like the Chopard watch and the number one item on our list, is a piece for women. It incorporates 152.96 carats of the world’s finest white diamonds, with the pear-shaped piece sitting at its center. That center can be removed and a diamond watch face inserted. Then, you can place the center diamond in a bespoke shank and wear it as a ring.

“The Fascination is an outstanding piece, carefully crafted so it can be worn in a number of different ways – adding a touch of magic to the jewel,” Graff said at the time it was introduced.

The Graff Hallucination – $55 million

The world’s most expensive jewelry watch ever created, it is the brainchild of Laurence Graff, the Chairman of Graff Diamonds. It was presented at Baselworld 2014 and hailed as “a sculptural masterpiece, a celebration of the miracle of colored diamonds.”

It costs $55 million. For this kind of money, you could buy yourself that Aston Martin triplex in Miami, which comes with the last of the 24 Vulcans ever made, and still have $5 million to grab a coffee with friends. But you would miss out on the exclusivity of a one-off diamond timepiece.

There is only one Hallucination watch in the world and it took years for Graff to get all the diamonds that he set into it. Then, horologists and master jewelers spent thousands of hours to cut and set each precious stone on the platinum bracelet of the Hallucination. It is over 110 carats of the world’s rarest colored diamonds (Fancy Intense Pink, Fancy Light Grey Blue, Fancy Orange, Fancy Green), cut in a variety of shapes, from round to marquise.

With this much color and sparkle, you would be excused if you missed the dial of the timepiece. Graff was probably thinking he wouldn’t want to take away anything from the stones’ presentation, so he went for a tiny quartz dial, with the dial and face covered in pink diamonds. It has no power reserve or automatic winding, so whoever ends up wearing it won’t have to worry about it not telling time accurately for months.

The Hallucination is secured on the wrist with a tongue clasp that is hidden when the bracelet is closed. It can be released with a spring mechanism, which is activated by pressing on a single diamond.