Published on July 14, 2024
If you’re looking to spend six figures on your next beach vacation watch, we’ve got you covered. We’ve recommend models from Richard Mille, Lange, Vacheron Constantin, Blancpain and more, each uniquely amazing, as any watch north of $100,000 has to be.
When you think of the best beach watches for summer, your mind may immediately jump to sports watches and more specifically dive watches. If a watch is fit for the ocean, it’s fit for the beach or any summer outing. As you continue to ponder other watches that might make your your next beach vacation more wonderful, you might consider a sporty chronograph or even a sailing watch.
Or, perhaps your daydream about living on island time spans beyond the practical features to the look and feel of the perfect beach watch: Something playful and lightweight in a fun summer color. All of these styles are ideal for a weekend trip to the nearest coastline, but what about the best beach watch for that ultimate vacation of the summer
This is the trip you’ve spent all year planning, all winter working toward. You’re ready to hop on a plane and wake up in paradise. When it comes to beach watches for that trip, the stakes are higher. When it’s time to go big with coastal chic before you go home, these are seven of the best beach watches over $100,000.
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Audemars Piguet Limited Edition Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph
Image Credit: Audemars Piguet If a dive watch is a bit too on the nose for your extravagant beach getaway, a straight-up sports watch is the next best thing. Of course, the Royal Oak is the OG luxury sport watch and has remained one of the most popular luxury sport watches on the market since its inception over 50 years ago. The Royal Oak’s little (or rather “big”) brother, the Royal Oak Offshore, came along a few decades later in 1993 boasting even bolder proportions and playful materials, all of which make it the perfect summer companion. AP released The Limited Edition Offshore Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph in 2023 offering a lightweight 43 mm ceramic case, 100 meters of water resistance, and a cool green color scheme with matching rubber strap.
$310,000
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Richard Mille RM 65-01 Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph in Yellow and Blue Quartz TPT
Image Credit: Richard Mille If it was possible to look up “the best beach watch over $100,000” in a magic horological dictionary, you would very likely find an image of a Richard Mille. The brand is no stranger to releasing the watch of the summer filled with bright colors, lightweight materials, and the unique sporty flair that’s instantly recognizable as Richard Mille. This summer is no different. The brand just dropped two split-seconds chronographs, complete with the signature pops of color and cases made from its proprietary quartz TPT (Thin Ply Technology). Of course, with Richard Mille, you’re never just getting great form without killer function. The complexity of the caliber RMAC4 split-seconds movement (the most complicated automatic movement RM makes) is on full display in full color right on—or, we should say, through—the dial.
$380,000
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Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin
Image Credit: Vacheron Constantin Vacheron presented its initial sport watch, the 222, on the tails of the Royal Oak in the 1970s. However, it wasn’t until the introduction of the Overseas two decades later that the category took off for the brand. Since then, the Overseas has remained a mainstay of Vacheron’s catalog with the model receiving a major overhaul in 2016. That same year, we saw the introduction of the first perpetual calendar within the collection. The perpetual calendar variants continued to evolve over the years with the launch of the ultra-thin in 2021. This watch is the perfect day to night beach watch, easily boasting sporty and laid back vibes in the sun and seamlessly transitioning to dinner by the water in the evening.
$115,000
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Panerai Limited Edition Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Ceramica
Image Credit: Panerai Panerai’s ties with the ocean run deep. At the beginning of the 20th century, Panerai became an official supplier to the Royal Italian Navy, and by 1935, the Regia Marina put out a call for a model that could withstand the extreme conditions endured by its frogman commandos. A year later, Panerai submitted a prototype called the Radiomir featuring its patented, luminous, radium-based powder. Eventually discovering the harmful effects of radium, Panerai later introduced a new luminous material aptly named Luminor, which gave way to a new collection of the same name. Fast forward to 2010, when Panerai introduced a line of tourbillons called the Lo Scienziato (meaning “the scientist”) in honor of the famed Italian scientist Galileo. Since then, the collection has taken many forms from a 3D-printed titanium version to a ceramic one.
Pop one of Panerai’s excellent rubber straps on this one and you’re in a stealthy, ultra-high-end beach mode.
$152,800
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Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon 8 Days
Image Credit: Blancpain The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is the ultimate dive watch, the ultimate beach watch, the ultimate watch of summer. The Fifty Fathoms was also one of the first modern dive watches, debuting in 1953 alongside Zodiac’s Seawolf—both ahead of the Rolex Submariner. While a standard Fifty Fathoms will typically run you five-figures, the Tourbillon 8 Days is anything but typical. At 45 mm, it offers 300 meters of water resistance, and comes equipped with a flying tourbillon. This is a delicate complication to include in a robust dive watch, but Blancpain executes it with ease thanks to the 25C movement, which offers and impressive eight-day power reserve common for manually wound dive watches to eliminte needless working of the crown threads. Even if your luxurious tropical vacation doesn’t entail diving, the Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon 8 Days keeps things stylish with the option of lightweight titanium or more refined rose gold.
$125,000 (ti), $156,200 (gold)
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A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus Chronograph
Image Credit: A. Lange & Söhne The Odysseus is a newer collection from A. Lange & Söhne, launching in 2019. It marked the brand’s first regularly produced stainless steel watch to be water resistant to 120 meters. The model was also notable for its minimalist design of the chronograph complication, rendered in a single register at six o’clock, along with the prominent display of the day and date at nine and six o’clock. The latest incarnation came at Watches & Wonders in 2023 with the debut of the new caliber L156.1 Datomatic, the brand’s first automatic chronograph movement. This update firmly solidified the watch’s place in the brand’s catalog and as an ideal beach companion. Thanks to its 50-hour power reserve, you can casually slip this watch in your favorite travel case and it will be right there waiting for you with the perfect time once you land and sink your feet in the sand.
$146,000
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Breguet Marine Tourbillon 5577
Image Credit: Breguet Breguet is another brand with a history of creating watches fit for the sea. The French watchmaker served as the official supplier to the French Royal Navy and built much of its reputation on its ultra-precise marine chronometers. Thus, nearly two centuries later, Breguet introduced its modern line of waterproof sport watches called the Marine. In 2023, the brand launched this gorgeous sailing tourbillon—an absolutely perfect luxury beach watch. Together, the Marine Tourbillon 5577 combines the sportiness of the collection with Breguet’s signature troubillon complication set askance at 5 o’clock. Every element of this model strikes Breguet’s ideal balance of elegance and utility. For instance, you have the option of two precious metal cases (rose gold or platinum) both contrasted with an integrated rubber strap.
$185,800