Time is Money

TIME IS MONEY Watches can be a great investment, and spending money on a well-made timepiece will give you years of use, and some may even increase in value. Original designs that have inspired watch makers the world over, can be a costly investment, but a decent modern watch needn't break the bank either. Remember also that whether it's a watch or jewellery, it's always worth checking with your home insurance provider that the item is covered, particularly if it's value exceeds their single item limit. 3 Introducing the 20 Coolest Watches of ALL TIME! } 20 ZENITH EL PRIMERO 1968 19 VACHERON TOUR DE L'ILE 2005 Price: £5,000 - £I0,000 Price: £25,000 - £35,000 In 1969, Zenith delivered the first anlomatic chronograph that incorporated a fully-automatic The Tour De L'lle is the world's most complicated rateh, bat with 250 years worth of ralchmaking experience behind it, its dual faces should tick along for many years lo come. morement. The El Primero is still largely regarded as haming some of the finest internal components available, and they were even used in such classics as the Rolex Daytona. Zemith released a s0th Anniversary edition of the El Primero in 2009. 18 BULOVA ACCUTRON SPACEVIEW 1961 17 TISSOT T-TOUCH 1999 Price: £500 - £1,000 Price: £350 - L600 Bulova's Accutron dida't become popular or iconic until rell in to the 60s when interest sparked in display models of their watches that showed the internal The first watch with a touch-sensitive crystal face. By lapping the glass you can display a compass, the temperature, your altitude or other useful informa- tion components. Accutron timers based on these display pieces were sapplied to NASA for thrir satellites, and the Spacerieu watch was born out of this relationship. Gimmicky? Yes. Geeky? VYes. Cool? Definitely. 16 HERMES CAPE COD GRANDES HEURES 2011 Price: £2,000 - £1.000 Perhaps the only watch with a Dali-esque ability to bend time - the hands speed up or slour doun depending on the mood of the rearer DID YOU KNOW? The minute and second hands move at a normal pace, "In the 1900s, women wore wrist watches bat the hoar hand has its oun unconrentional rule-book. and men generally had pocket watches" 15 OMEGA SPEEDMASTER 1957 14 ROLEX COSMOGRAPH DAYTONA 1963 Price: £3,000 - £5.000 Price: £6.000 - £12.000 Paul Nerman was a big fan of this iconic motorsport The Speedmaster started life as a sports and racing chronograph in 1957, bet had bealen off competition from other chronographs lo become NASIS standard issne rateh by the mid-sixties. ratch, rhich narrouly missed out on becoming NASA's oficial chronograph. To this day, the Speedmaster is still the astronamt's ralch of choice. The Daytona is named after the ISA's most famous racing eirenit and to this day there's stilla raiting list to buy a new one. 13 HAMILTON ELECTRIC 500 VENTURA 1957 12 PANERAI LUMINOR BASE 112 2002 Price: £100 - £1.000 Price: £3.800 - L5,000 Not only is the 500 Ventura the first electric ratch, it was also rorn by none other than Elris Presley in 1961 hit morie, Blue Harai. This hand-round model epilomises Panerai's classie design, urith patented eroun protector and large Almm case. The instantly recognisable asymmetrical design showed that Hamilton were looking tray beyond the Ss, and their carrent models including the XXI still have that same futuristic look more than 50 years later. Don't be fooled by the watch's "Base' title, as this is no entry-level model. Base simply refers to the tralch's dlean, un-clutlered face, with no second hand or date display. £70,000,700| THE HENRY GRAVES 'SUPERCOMPLICATION' SOLD FOR £70.7M IN DECEMBER 1999 AND IS THE WORLDS MOST EXPENSIVE WATCH. 11 BELL &ROSS RED RADAR 2011 10 PATEK PHILIPPE CALATRAVA 1932 Price: £2.750 - L5,000 Price: £12,000 - £20,000 French watch brand Bell & Ross are famed for their Considered the flagship model of Patek Philippe, the deronautical timepieces based on aireraft instruments. This wralch was a follow up tlo their Rodar walch, and featured a srerping light effect on a radar red tinted erystal screen. Galatrava has been described as the most handsome aratch ever made, and the epitome of dress walches lo be worn to a man's most important events in life. BR Patek Philippe's odvertising for the walch portrayed it sa timepiece to be passed on to future generations. The malle black finish of the case mirrors the screens in air traffie control rooms and contrasts egainst the red lo optimise readability. IWC BIG PILOT'S WATCH 2002 AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK OFFSURE 1993 Price: £7,000 - £22,000 Price: £13,000- £150,000 + INC ras one of the original aeronantical walch makers, making timepieces for the Laftwoffe daring World War II. This massive t6.2mm model is inspired by thrir original designs. The original 1972 Royal Oak featared an octagonal design, bet the Ofshore moved the ralch in lo the 20 century and beyond. Arnold Sehrarzenegger's walch of choice looks as good loday as it did almost 20 years ago - the sign of a truly iconie timepiece. The clear, readable dial and large onion croun designed for mid-flight adjustments uhilst wearing pilots gloves. HUBLOT TOURBILLON SOLO BANG 2009 Price: L49,000 - £1,000,000 Hublot is a relatively young Suriss watchmaker, founded in 1980. Its original line-up foatured the first watches with natural rubber straps. THE FIRST WATERPROOF WATCHES This ceramic cased model is named after its manual rinding tourbillion, and is rater resistant up to 100m. If this one isn't expensire enongh, they also do the Big Bang Cariar that sells for around $I million and is coaled in black diamonds. WERE MADE BY ROLEX TAG HEUER MONACO 1969 CARTIER TANK 1917 Price: £2,000 - £8.000 Price: £l,500 - £16,000 Made famous by Stere Negueen in Le Mans, this has to be an all time classic. The modern rersion features apdated styling. bat relains the square case of the eriginal, Gartier named this iconic watch after the Renault / IXK tanks used in World War l. On its release the square design was considered revolutionary, but as Soon as Rudolph Valentino wore one in the 1924 hit morie, the Son of the Sheik, it became a 20th century icon. A limited run of 1,000 special edition walches more faithful to the original design, with the croun on the left and some unesual indices were released in 209. They sold out immedialely, This ralch is still a popular choice despite being in production for over 90 years 4 BREITLING EMERGENCY 1995 DID YOU KNOW? Price: £2,000 - £5.000 What could be cooler or more iconic than a watch that 12 "The first digital electronic watch was developed in 1970" features an emergency radio transmitter? by palling out a tiny transmitter the watch broadcasts on an emergency distress frequency that can be picked up by passing aircraft. This walch has made the news, saring the lives of 2 downed British pilots in 2003. 2 OMEGA SEAMASTER 300M 1995 3 JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO GYROTOURBILLON 2 2008 Price: £1,900 - £2,500 First introduced in 1947, the automatie winding Seamaster series of walches went on lo become one of the most iconie ratehes of all time, in part due to it being worn by both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig in their role as James Bond. Price: £3,800 - L20.000 The walch that re-urole the walch design rulebook. By utilising a cylindershaped balance spring for the first time, this tratch challenged long standing principles of the study of time. The tourbillon, which compensales for the efects of gravity on the walch, rolales on heo anes, rather than one. This, in the walch rorld, makes this one clever The Seamaster is a formidable diring walch, waler resistant to 300m and features a helium release ralve at the 10 o'clock position for diring at extreme depths. timepiece and someurhat of a big deal 3 Our Number One Coolest Watch of all time!} 1 ROLEX SUBMARINER 1953 Price: £3,700 - £7,000 Arguably the world's most recognisable watch, the Submariner was originally built for professional divers. Like our number 2 watch, the Submariner is water resistant to 300m and also adorned the wrist of movies mostly during the Connery era. Bond in more than The watch has recently undergone a slight update, still retaining its classic styling. but now featuring a ceramic bezel and chunkier strap lugs. MoneySupermarket com *PLEASE NOTE, PRICES QUOTED ARE A ROUGH GUIDE ONLY AND ARE BASED ON AVERAGE PRICES FOUND ONLINE MANY OF THESE MODELS WILL DEMAND MUCH HIGHER PRICES THAN THOSE QUOTTDIF THEY ARr VINTAGE PIECES, OR HAVE STONIS OR CUSTOM PARTS ADDED