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The Best Buy for Your First Luxury Watch: $10,000 and Under
If you’re dropping $10,000 on a watch, you have every right to expect that watch to be something very special indeed. In fact, this is the price point where you start dipping your toes into ‘grail watch’ territory.
Now, obviously what constitutes a grail for one person doesn’t necessarily mean it does for someone else, but there is something of an embarrassment of riches once we get into five figures. Names that even those with zero interest in horology will recognize dwell here—and if not the specific models themselves then certainly the manufacturer.
In fact, at $10K there’s almost too much choice and it can lead to that terrible first world problem of decision paralysis.
But never fear! We’re here to lend a helping opinion with a list of the very best timepieces you can buy for a brick.
The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch
I’m going to try my hardest not to abuse the word ‘iconic’ throughout this list, but I’m only human and if there was a single watch out there worthy of the overused epithet, then it’s this one.
Probably tied for the title of most famous chronograph ever made with a certain Rolex Daytona, the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch has the triple benefits of being far more affordable, easy to buy at retail and comes with the backing of NASA.
If you are somehow not up to speed (pun intended) on why this piece is called the Moonwatch, then the clue really is in the name. Back in the ‘60s, when the space agency was on the hunt for a standard issue timepiece for their Apollo astronauts destined for the lunar surface, they put the call out to a number of brands for a super robust chronograph. Among them, both Rolex and Omega offered their finest with only the Speedmaster found capable of surviving possibly the most destructive tests ever visited on a wristwatch. And the rest is history.
Today, the current model affectionately dubbed the Speedy looks practically identical to the one brutalized by NASA, mainly because there is no way to improve on perfection.
Every aspect of it just works. The stark black and white contrast means it is incredibly legible, the setup is exquisitely balanced, the movement is METAS-certified and possessed of Omega’s class leading co-axial escapement and the price is astonishingly realistic.
The classic design (black dial and sub dials) is available in two versions, one with a sapphire crystal and display case back, or the vintage style Hesalite crystal with enclosed back bearing the “Flight-Qualified By NASA In 1965 For All Manned Space Missions” and “The First Watch Worn On The Moon”) engraving—just in case you were in danger of forgetting.
Being a sucker for authenticity, I went for the latter when I got mine and while the retail price has since increased, you can still get them brand new for $7,400.
This is one of the few watches completely immune to buyer’s remorse. A legend for more than 60-years, the Speedmaster really is iconic.
The Rolex Submariner ref. 124060
Look, I’ll be honest; the retail price of the world’s most famous dive watch is actually $10,050. But if you can’t beg, borrow or steal the extra 50 bucks to get your hands on the only watch you and your heirs will ever need for the rest of your and their life, I don’t know what to tell you.
What can I actually say about the Rolex Submariner? We mentioned grail watches earlier. Well, this may well be the grailiest of grails in most people’s eyes. Born in the 1950s, it is arguably the model which catapulted Rolex to the status it still enjoys today. The first wristwatch able to withstand a plunge to the magic number of 100m, its popularity these days is far less about its abilities and all about its place in pop culture history. Bond may sport the latest Omega now, but back in the Connery (best) era, it was the Sub all the way.
Much like the Moonwatch, Rolex nailed the Submariner’s styling more or less out of the gate. So much so, in fact, that the model has remained the blueprint for successful dive watch aesthetics ever since. Take a look through the collections of most brands and there is a Sub clone in there somewhere.
As with all timeless design, the key is simplicity. With the ref. 124060, we get a 41mm steel case in that classic tonneau shape. Fitted to that is a black Cerachrom bezel with a 60-minute dive scale, the first 15 hash marked. The dial is also black, with white lume-filled indexes in the age old dots and batons style, with an inverted triangle at the 12. The handset has a little flourish, with Rolex’s own Mercedes hour hand. And that’s it—because that’s all you need. It’s all so beautifully poised and put together, with not even a date display to upset the symmetry (the date version will run you an extra $650 and I can’t advise stealing that much).
Wear it with a t-shirt, wear it with a suit. Hell, wear it with a white tuxedo hidden under a drysuit after blowing up a heroin processing plant in South America, see if I care. There is literally nowhere the Rolex Submariner looks out of place, and for that and so many other reasons, you really should treat yourself to one.
The Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41
Proof that a design doesn’t have to be simple to be effective, Breitling’s seminal aviator’s watch can be a little overwhelming at first glance.
Made explicitly for AOPA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, in 1952, the Navi came about long before the age of flight computers or GPS. Instead, pilots needed a highly accurate watch they could rely on for navigation. Except, with its innovative slide rule bezel, the Breitling could be used for far more than that.
Working in conjunction with the watch’s chronograph function and the litany of scales printed around the dial’s edge, aviators were able to make time and distance calculations, estimate fuel consumption, average speed, rate of climb and a host of other essential computations mid-flight.
A big hit with pilots, Breitling opened up the Navitimer to the general public in 1954 and it has remained a core offering from the brand for an uninterrupted seven decades. As you might imagine, there have been a colossal number of variations on the main theme during that time; we’ve had automatic models, quartz versions and even digital Navis.
However, with the current desire for yesteryear, in Breitling’s contemporary roster you can (and should) find an almost carbon copy of those early originators in the shape of the B01 Chronograph 41.
Stemming from 2009, the model represents a significant milestone in the Navitimer’s legacy, running as it does on the brand’s very first in-house chronograph movement, the B01. The self-winding, column wheel-controlled, vertical clutch mechanism comes with COSC certification and a 70-hour reserve. The cutting-edge movement is housed in a faithful aesthetic throwback to classic references, with the watch benefitting from an updated dial design for better legibility, improved luminescence, upgraded water resistance and antimagnetic performance and superior case finishing; essentially, making what was already good even better.
Of course, the world has moved on and particularly in the area of aviation. No one needs a Navitimer anymore, in the same way no one wearing a Speedmaster is likely to go to the moon. The appeal is in the form and the Navi is a key look and vital chapter in the story of horology. Best of all it falls well within budget, retailing at $9,000.
Featured Photo: Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil for BKT Archive.
