5 of the best platinum watches to blow your budget on

Zach Blass

While platinum is not a more expensive raw material than gold, platinum watches have been positioned by all watch brands as their most expensive creations. This is not a conundrum we will explore here, we have covered this topic on the site before. What I am tackling today is some of my favourites. Below, you can find five of the best platinum watches you can buy, bank account willing, today.

Rolex Perpetual 1908 ref. 52506-0002

Naturally, the noble metal does not typically come cheap. So, I am kicking off this best platinum watches buying guide at close to US$30K. Only a brand like Rolex could excite the world by finally releasing a conventionally shaped watch with an exhibition caseback. However, the initial gold models had somewhat plain matte dials. Then Rolex took things a step further the following year with a platinum model that has Rolex’s signature icy blue hue, reserved strictly for the noble metal, for its rice-grain motif dial. Whereas the now-discontinued Cellini line never really took off like other Rolex designs, the 1908 was an excellent refresh for the Crown to get back into dressier watches with a strong design. With a 50-metre water-resistant case, 39mm in diameter, and a Superlative Chronometer certified 66-hour automatic 7140 calibre, this is a handsome office/dress daily wearer. Price: US$30,900

Grand Seiko SBGZ009

If anyone ever asked me what my dream Grand Seiko to own would be, they would assume I would say the Kodo – also cased in platinum. But they would be wrong. The SBGZ009 may be far less complicated, but the time-only watch is far more decorated. The platinum price premium is often attributed to the level of difficulty of working with the metal, yet Grand Seiko artisans can masterfully hand-engrave the case with a birch pattern that also extends to the dial. Furthermore, the silver dial has its minute hashes and text carved into it.

Flip the watch, 38.5mm in diameter, 9.8mm thick, and 43.7mm lug-to-lug, over, and you will see Grand Seiko’s stunning in-house manually-wound 9R02 Spring Drive calibre that is hand-decorated with gentian wood. I hate to say it as a Credor Eichi II owner, but the 9R02, which is Grand Seiko’s version of Credor’s 7R14, not only has a full day more of power reserve but also more curvaceous bevels and an incredibly sharp yet curvy interior angle. Price: US$79,000 (limited to 50 pcs.)

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor

After a design overhaul from CEO Guido Terreni and his team, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor has become a handsome ‘robust elegance’ daily wearer for if-you-know-you-know watch collectors. The essence of Parmigiani Fleurier is private luxury, and nothing could be more stealth than a watch that looks like a steel watch with a grey dial but is, in fact, a platinum watch with a platinum bracelet and even a finely frosted platinum dial. Despite all the precious metal, the watch, 40mm in diameter, slender 7.8mm thick (thanks to its ultra-thin 48-hour micro-rotor calibre that is just 3mm thick), and 45.6mm lug-to-lug, has a depth rating of 100 metres. If you want a top-notch platinum watch that is basically all platinum, this is your timepiece. Price: US$92,800

Patek Philippe ref. 5930P

The watch may be complicated, but it was a straightforward choice for this best platinum watches buying guide. The masses may only be familiar with the Nautilus, but Holy Trinity watchmaker Patek Philippe has built its name on fine, classic, and complicated timepieces. In an ever-increasingly globalized world, the wolrdtimer complication, while aesthetic, has once again become functionally relevant as well. Here at Time+Tide, we work, at a minimum, across three time zones – and that is just internally speaking. Furthermore, the 5930P is also a flyback chronograph, and this is all packed within a 39.5mm platinum case, 12.86mm thick and 30 metres water-resistant. Exhibited inside is Patek Philippe’s in-house and finely finished 50-hour CH 28-520 HU/524 movement. And it doesn’t hurt that, in its centre, you have a well-executed green guilloche dial.  Price: US$107,230

A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down ref. 405.035

Widely considered as the chronograph with the most mesmerising calibre, the A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down is the epitome of in-house watchmaking done right. All of Lange’s calibres are designed for a particular model, tailored to the case, and the 60-hour manually-wound L951.6 is adorned with all of the fine hand-finishing the brand has built its name on – chamfering, striping, straight-graining, hand-engraving, and more. You don’t have to take just my word for it, an earlier version of the watch is so beloved by one of the greatest living watchmakers that it has since been nicknamed the ‘Dufourgraph’ due to Philippe Dufour’s well-established praise for the watch and its incredible movement. The 405.035, as a modern Datograph, has been enlarged to a 41mm platinum case (up from 38mm, which I personally prefer) but retains design signatures such as two dial-contrasting chronograph counters and Lange’s signature operatic and large date windows. Price: Upon request