The most expensive watches in the world

The most expensive watch ever sold is the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010, a one-of-a-kind steel watch that sold for CHF 31 million (about $31 million) at Christie's Geneva in November 2019. The most expensive watch ever made is often said to be the Graff Hallucination, a diamond bracelet watch quoted at about $55 million, but it has never been sold at a public auction.

Auction record (any watch)	Patek Grandmaster Chime 6300A, CHF 31M, 2019
Most expensive pocket watch	Patek Henry Graves Supercomplication, CHF 23.2M, 2014
Most expensive Rolex	Paul Newman's Daytona, $17.75M, 2017
Top lot of 2025	Patek 1518 in steel, CHF 14.19M
Highest quoted price	Graff Hallucination, about $55M (not sold at auction)
Brand with most records	Patek Philippe

The most expensive watches ever sold at auction

Prices include the buyer's premium. Swiss franc and Hong Kong dollar results are converted at the rate of the sale day, so dollar figures are approximate.

#	Watch	Price	Auction
1	Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010 (steel, one of a kind) The most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction (Guinness World Records). 20 complications, a reversible case and the only steel Grandmaster Chime ever made.	CHF 31 million (about $31M)	Christie's, Geneva (Only Watch charity sale), Nov 9, 2019
2	Patek Philippe Henry Graves Jr. Supercomplication (pocket watch, 1933) The most expensive pocket watch ever sold at auction. Made for New York banker Henry Graves Jr., with 24 complications. It was the most complicated watch in the world for over 50 years.	CHF 23.2 million (about $24M)	Sotheby's, Geneva, Nov 11, 2014
3	Paul Newman's own Rolex Daytona 6239 The most expensive Rolex ever sold. A gift from his wife Joanne Woodward, engraved "Drive Carefully Me".	$17,752,500	Phillips, New York, Oct 26, 2017
4	Patek Philippe 1518 in stainless steel (1943) The top lot of 2025 and the most valuable vintage Patek wristwatch ever sold. The 1518 was the first perpetual calendar chronograph made in series, and only a handful were cased in steel.	CHF 14.19 million ($17.6M)	Phillips, Geneva, Nov 9, 2025
5	Patek Philippe 1518 in stainless steel A world record for any wristwatch at the time.	CHF 11.0 million ($11.1M)	Phillips, Geneva, Nov 12, 2016
6	F.P. Journe "FFC" prototype (2021), from Francis Ford Coppola's collection The auction record for an independent watchmaker.	$10.76 million	Phillips, New York, Dec 2025
7	Patek Philippe 2523 "South America" world time The top lot of the highest-grossing watch auction in history (CHF 74.8 million in one sale).	CHF 7.96 million ($10.2M)	Phillips, Geneva, May 2026
8	Patek Philippe 1518 "Prince Tewfik" pink on pink A pink gold case with a pink dial, once owned by a prince of Egypt.	$9.57 million	Sotheby's, New York, Dec 2021
9	Patek Philippe 2523 world time, Gobbi Milano Once the most expensive watch ever sold in Asia.	HK$70.2 million (about $9M)	Christie's, Hong Kong, Nov 2019
10	Patek Philippe 2523 "Eurasia" enamel dial A record for a two-crown Patek with an enamel map dial.	CHF 7.05 million (about $7.7M)	Phillips, Geneva, May 2021
11	Patek Philippe 2499, Gobbi Milano The record for the 2499, the perpetual calendar chronograph that followed the 1518.	HK$60.3 million (about $7.7M)	Sotheby's, Hong Kong, Apr 2022
12	Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-018, Tiffany blue dial One of 170 made to mark 170 years of Patek and Tiffany; the record for a modern steel sports watch.	$6.5 million	Phillips, New York, Dec 11, 2021

Why Patek Philippe dominates the list

Ten of the twelve record sales are Patek Philippe. The Geneva firm, founded in 1839, has made watches continuously for nearly two centuries, keeps records of every watch it has made, and produces very small numbers. Collectors trust that a Patek is what it claims to be, and the models that set records, the 1518, 2499 and 2523, were made in tiny quantities in the 1940s and 1950s. Rarity plus provenance plus condition is the formula for every price on this page.

The most expensive watches ever made (not sold at auction)

Some watches are said to cost more than any auction record, but these are list prices or valuations, not prices anyone is known to have paid in public. Treat them as claims.

Watch	Price or value	Story
Graff Hallucination	about $55 million (quoted price)	Shown at Baselworld 2014: a bracelet of more than 110 carats of rare colored diamonds with a tiny quartz watch at its center. Often called the most expensive watch ever made, but it is a jewel first and a watch second.
Graff Fascination	about $40 million (quoted price)	About 153 carats of white diamonds; the 38-carat pear diamond on the dial pops out to become a ring.
Breguet No. 160 "Marie Antoinette"	valued around $30 million	Ordered in 1783 for the French queen with every complication then known. It took decades to finish, long after her execution. It was stolen in 1983 from a Jerusalem museum and recovered in the mid-2000s; it now belongs to the L.A. Mayer Museum.
"Watch 1505" (attributed to Peter Henlein)	estimated $50 to 80 million	A tiny gilded pomander watch, said to be the oldest watch in existence, found at a London flea market in 1987. Experts backed the 1505 date in 2014, but the Henlein attribution is debated and it has never been sold publicly.

What makes a watch so expensive?

Rarity: one-of-a-kind pieces and tiny production runs. The Grandmaster Chime sold for CHF 31 million because it was the only one in steel.
Provenance: who owned it. Paul Newman's Daytona sold for about 100 times the price of an ordinary example of the same model.
Complications: minute repeaters, perpetual calendars and split-second chronographs take months of hand work. See complications explained.
Condition and originality: an unpolished case and an untouched dial can double the price.
Precious materials: the Graff watches are priced by their diamonds, not their movements.
Charity: several records, including the top one, came from the Only Watch auction, where bidders pay extra for a good cause.

For the Rolex records, see the most expensive Rolex watches. For the brands behind these watches, see luxury watch brands ranked.

Questions people ask

What is the most expensive watch in the world?

By auction price, the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010, sold for CHF 31 million (about $31 million) in 2019. By quoted price, the Graff Hallucination at about $55 million.

What is the most expensive watch brand?

Patek Philippe holds most of the top auction records. For new watches, Richard Mille and the Holy Trinity brands (Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet) are among the most expensive.

What is the most expensive Rolex?

Paul Newman's own Rolex Daytona 6239, sold for $17,752,500 at Phillips New York in October 2017. See all Rolex records.

Why was the Grandmaster Chime so expensive?

It is Patek Philippe's most complicated wristwatch, with 20 complications, and this one was the only example ever made in stainless steel. It was sold at the Only Watch charity auction, where bidders often pay a premium for a good cause.

What is the most expensive watch ever made?

The Graff Hallucination, unveiled in 2014 with more than 110 carats of colored diamonds, is quoted at about $55 million. It is priced as jewelry and has not been sold publicly.

Sources

Last updated October 18, 2026. Prices are auction hammer-plus-premium results or published list prices as reported by the sources below; retail prices change, so check an authorized dealer before buying. Brand and model names belong to their owners and are used here only to identify the watches; onlineclock.app is not affiliated with any watch brand. Found an error? Tell us.