The hierarchy of luxury watches explained

Published 2025-03-12 by Zdravko Anticic

In today’s day and age, there is a seemingly infinite number of watchmakers, or better said, watch brands. From the entry level brands like Citizen, all the way up to the Patek Phillipes and Greubel Forseys of the world, creating bespoke, often one-of-a-kind timepieces. For someone just beginning to take an interest into the world of wristwatches, it may be difficult to understand the hierarchy.

To make this simpler, we will break down the world of watches into tiered levels.

The grouping looks roughly like this:

Consumer Tier, Entry Luxury Tier, Premium Luxury Tier, High Luxury Tier, Ultra Luxury Tier, Peak of the industry Tier.

Let’s start from the base of the pyramid.

The Consumer Tier

Here is where the entry-level brands are found. These are mass-market watches accessible to the regular everyday consumer. Most will find themselves looking at this level for their first watch purchase. Reliable watches which you will not feel too bad about wearing every day, even if they develop some scratches and dings over time. This is not to say that there are not good watches in this category, quite the contrary.

The more known brands in this level are Swatch, Citizen, Seiko, and maybe most famous of all, Casio.

Watches at this level will most likely be quartz-run (battery powered) or manual wound. While automatic options, meaning self-winding as the wearer moves the wrist around during everyday activities, are usually found in higher level watch brands, they are available from the brands named here, albeit normally at a slightly higher price point.

Entry Luxury Tier

Now we come to the luxury brands. On the lower end of Luxury we will find Festina, Victorinox, Nautica, Certina and Tissot, among others. The difference from the previous tier is an uptick in the quality of materials used and the general build quality of the watches, mainly intended for watch enthusiasts to offer a slightly more luxurious, or premium option, without breaking the bank in most cases. The price to quality ratio is well within acceptable limits at this range.

Premium Luxury Tier

Moving one step up, we will find the more prominent watch brands, which are commonly thought of as “great watches” in conversation, even if only based off of brand placement in the sense of sponsorships, mostly during sporting events. These are the Tag Heuer’s, Omega’s, Longines, Breitling, Tudor, and others.

Tudor and Tag Heuer, namely, are standing sponsors of F1 teams at the moment, with the latter having just become the official timekeeper of the sport for 2025 onwards. Meanwhile Omega is famous for being the official timekeeper of the Olympics, as well as being the first watch on the Moon, which would become the “Speedmaster Moon Watch”.

These brands often come swiss-made, which is one of the more important distinguishing factors that made the phrase “works like a Swiss watch” a sign of quality and precision, and are considered premium luxury watches.

High Luxury Tier

The second to last step up to the peak of the pyramid brings us to the well-established brands pretty much everyone has heard of. The Rolex, Hublot, Cartier, IWC and the likes. The connection with Formula 1 as the peak of motorsport holds true yet again, as IWC currently has an active sponsorship with the Mercedes F1 team, and Rolex has held the timekeeping sponsorship until the end of 2024 with the sport.

They need little to no introduction. The brands in this tier are focused above all on quality, often handmade production, durability, precision, and elegance. They carry with them a sign of success and luxury, no matter the model chosen.

Rolex has been an iconic symbol of success for many decades now, and is likely the best-known name of all the list, and it has well been justified over the years, earning them the reputation which they proudly carry. Rolexes are often timeless, elegant and sleek, always beautiful.

Cartier on the other hand has a different take on the wristwatch, in terms of form. They are more artistic pieces, with an emphasis on jewelry as an important element in their designs.

Ultra Luxury Tier

We arrive to what is sometimes referred to as the Holy Trinity of watchmakers. Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and of course Patek Philippe. In order to be here it is not enough to “only” create quality, beautiful, reliable watches. Here you will find the most advanced and complicated intricacies, most of all the watch mechanisms themselves.

Some come with functions other than just showing time, like multiple time zones, chronographs, calendars, moon phases, repeaters and tachymeters. However the most interesting of all the intricacies is the tourbillon. This mesmerizing contraption is, in essence, a mechanism that constantly rotates the balance wheel, which in turn counteracts the effects of gravity, this making the watch that one little bit more accurate over time. These mechanisms are often heavily modified by the respective brands in order to create a beautiful, and uniquely their own tourbillon, while keeping the functionality intact.

At this level, the watches are highly exclusive and limited in production, further driving their desirability up. Watch collectors, connoisseurs, and even investors long for these watches. And why should they not – in this tier, they are more than just a status symbol. It is a statement in itself to own one. And the resale value that comes with them, should one decide it’s time for a change, is a very nice bonus.

The Peak of the Pyramid

Here, at the very top of the watch hierarchy, accessible only to the top of the net-worth individuals you will find exquisite pieces at even more exquisite prices. These watches scream luxury, craftsmanship, precision, and beauty, often in very intricate designs which require many man-hours to make by hand. They are often bejeweled, one-off units. The very top of collectors’ wishlists. They can only be obtained through direct channels, and not by just anyone.

Bovet, Greubel Forsey, and Richard Mille to name a few which belong at the top. Some of these watches reach prices not even in the hundreds of thousands, but instead millions of euros in sale and re-sale values. When you combine a great brand, the pinnacle of watchmaking, fantastic design and craftsmanship, with the best materials available, it is only justified that the end product is valued for what it is.