The Battle of the Watches: The Proper Dress Watch

What is the best dress watch? This is the question that I have been asked a million times. Many will say the Cartier Tank or the PP Calatrava or the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony. I believe those are all wrong answers. Those watches would fall under the category of the most popular dress watches, not the best dress watches. The best of the world’s dress watches are produced in limited numbers by the not-so-often-advertised brands. Breguet, FP Journe, and Laurent Ferrier are these brands. Breguet makes the classique, FP Journe makes the chronometer bleu, and Laurent Ferrier doesn’t make too many different watches (they are all about the same). Breguet’s classique is the most affordable of the watches in the group with an asking price of anywhere from $14,000 to about $18,000. Then comes FP Journe’s chronometer bleu with an asking price of about $19,000.  Finally, the last watch is Laurent Ferrier’s Galet Micro Rotor. This is a very special watch, and a very rare watch. There is only one Laurent Ferrier in North America. The piece is located at Manfredi Jewels in Greenwich, CT and can be seen in the front window (it was last time I was in the store). The asking price: $48,500. Why is the price difference between this watch and the other two so different? Well, Laurent Ferrier only produces 150 watches per year and each watch is completely hand made with almost no use of computer assistance. Even if you don’t spend a whopping $48,500, Breguet and FP Journe both make fantastic wristwatches that will last a lifetime (and probably a lot longer). Manfredi Jewels is an authorized dealer of  FP Journe, Breguet, and a plethora of other prestigious watch brands.
-L. Rottman (Executive Editor: thewatchadviser.com)