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The Top 5 Diamond Watches of all Time: Graff Diamonds ‘The Hallucination’
What is the most you have ever spent on a quartz watch?
I only have a couple in my modest collection. One is a cheap and cheerful Casio diver I picked up for around $200 or so. The other is a TAG Heuer Aquaracer, a popular first ‘good’ watch choice for those just starting out in the wonderful world of horology. I forget how much it was because it was gifted to me by my now-wife as an ‘encouragement’ to finally propose after years of dating. I think it was around the $2,000 mark.
Quartz is often looked down on by aficionados. The comparative simplicity of a quartz movement versus a mechanical one leads to accusations of soullessness, with none of the passion and artistry of traditional watchmaking. And while a case might be made for that, the advantages quartz has over conventional mechanics are so clear and obvious it is easy to see why it came within an ace of shutting Switzerland down completely in the 1970s.
In terms of accuracy, there is no competition at all. Among the very best mass-produced mechanical movements, those built by Omega and Rolex, acceptable timekeeping limits are within the -2/+5 seconds a day range. Even a hybrid quartz/mechanical like Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive ‘only’ offers something like ±10 seconds a month.
Compare that to an average quartz caliber and they can effortlessly manage ±5 seconds a year.
Maintenance is another clean win. Battery life is often three years at a minimum and more likely five-plus. Service intervals are generally recommended between seven and 10-years, and will likely consist of nothing more than topping up lubrication and maybe replacing a gasket or two. By contrast, servicing a high end mechanical watch normally leaves a dent in the old wallet and has to be done far more frequently.
And that leads us back to price. The automatic equivalent of my quartz TAG comes in at around twice the price plus some. Right across the board, and you will find quartz watches at the very highest echelons of watchmaking’s hierarchy, they are consistently less expensive than those with traditional movements. Case in point; Patek Philippe’s cheapest current offering is in their quartz Twenty-4 Collection, the Cartier Tank-like ref. 4910/1200A-001, priced at around $15,000.
So perhaps the question shouldn’t be how much have you spent on a quartz watch, but rather, how much would you spend?
The Graff Hallucination
Incredibly, the twin titles of ‘the most expensive watch ever made’ and ‘the most expensive quartz watch ever made’ belong to the same watch. Although, both descriptions are somewhat disingenuous.
The Hallucination by famed London jewelry house Graff is an utterly spectacular multicolored diamond bracelet into which has been fitted a tiny quartz watch face more or less as an afterthought.
It costs $55m.
The masterpiece was presented at Graff’s inaugural attendance at Baselworld in 2014 and, you probably will not be all that surprised to learn, it caused quite the stir. Opinions ranged from reverent devotion to horrified outrage. Some regarded the astonishing work as the pinnacle of the gem setters’ art, while others found it overly decadent to the point of satire. With its debut coming in Switzerland, it’s likely the two factions were equal and thereby cancelled each other out, leaving it with some fitting Swiss neutrality.
What cannot be denied, however, is the level of commitment and the boldness of the design. Even if it is not to your taste (if you were at all interested in my opinion, I kinda like it. I prefer it to the follow-up, The Fascination, we reviewed last week anyway) you can surely appreciate what you are looking at is an undeniable work of art.
The Hallucination was the brainchild of brand founder, Laurence Graff. Head of his eponymous company since 1960, the so-called ‘King of Diamonds’ reportedly had the piece on his mind for a long time. In his own words; “For many years I have thought about creating a truly remarkable watch that illustrates our all-consuming passion for diamonds. The Hallucination has made my dream a reality,” continuing, “The Graff Hallucination is a sculptural masterpiece, a celebration of the miracle of colored diamonds.”
You can see his point. By all accounts, simply sourcing the 110 carats-worth of diamonds for The Hallucination took more than two years. That was partly down to the size of the stones, with half of them weighing 2 or 3 carats each, and partly because colored diamonds are far rarer and therefore more expensive than white ones.
Once found, it took a further two-and-a-half years for a team of 30 Graff specialists—designers, gemmologists, Master Craftsmen—to put the whole thing together, using a platinum bracelet as a base.
The Visuals
The fantastical nature of The Hallucination is what gives the piece its name. All told there are eight different colors of diamond set into it— Fancy Vivid Yellow, Fancy Intense Pink, Fancy Intense Blue, Fancy Light Pink, Fancy Light Grey Blue, Fancy Intense Blue, Fancy Green, and Fancy Orange (those are official names, by the way).
In addition, and contrary to the vast majority of haute joaillerie works which tend to concentrate on one or two types of cut for the stones, here there are six— heart, pear, marquise, emerald, radiant, and round.
As a result, there is a studied lack of symmetry anywhere. Instead, the diamonds are laid out in a chaotic, patchwork kaleidoscope; huge chunks of pricelessness seemingly dropped in at random but which somehow form a cohesive and beautiful whole.
Well, that’s my take on it. There have been others not quite so enamored who have likened it to unicorn vomit. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.
Ironically, the only classically balanced, proportioned and in any way subtle aspect of the piece is the watch. The miniature round dial and bezel are set with delicately pink stones, against which the tiny hands contrast nicely.
Here’s a weird thing though; no information exists on how those hands can be adjusted. Looking at The Hallucination (I’ll admit, I haven’t seen it in person) there’s no sign of a winding crown anywhere. You also have to wonder who’s going to change the battery when it runs out. Seems unlikely your local Zales would do it for you, but what do I know?
What we do know is that there is a nifty mechanism for the bracelet clasp. The fastener is hidden when closed and will only open when one specific diamond is pressed, rather like those old horror movies where a secret room is revealed behind the bookshelves when a candlestick is moved or something.
Value for Money
Most expensive watch (quartz or otherwise) or not, the timepiece aspect of The Hallucination is obviously a very secondary concern.
This almost overwhelming work is all about the diamonds, but there have been some asking the question as to why Graff would fit a relatively cheap battery-operated watch face into this otherwise money-no-object objet.
The only explanation that makes any sense is the brand’s desire not to overshadow their gem work in any way. After all, it is not like they lack the expertise to fit a mechanical model in there. Graff may only have branched out into horology fairly recently, establishing a Geneva workshop in 2008, but they have since then produced some highly complicated pieces. Past watches have had flying tourbillons, minute repeaters, Grande Dates, dual time zones. Some have contained two or three haute horlogerie functions in one model.
It is a little strange then and has led to mild accusations that Graff almost retrofit the watch as a bit of a postscript in order to show The Hallucination at Baselworld.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter. The Hallucination is what it is; a magnificent magnum opus which, at $55m, costs about the same as a Gulfstream or a Picasso.
But, does it though? Although it was created over a decade ago, so far no one has stepped forward, checkbook in hand, to purchase the thing. I suppose it could be argued then that those ‘most expensive watch’ titles are something of a misnomer. What it actually is instead is the watch with the highest price tag attached to it. Which sounds like quite an easy record to beat. For example, if anyone’s interested, I’m currently selling my TAG Aquaracer for $56m.
And that’s a quartz too.
Featured Photo: Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil for BKT Archive.
