10 Top Watchmaker's MOST Iconic Watches

hello watch lovers now the biggest brands in the watchmaking world are obvious we're talking Rolex Omega brightling and tag hoyya but how did these Brands rise to the front of the pack today we're looking at the 10 most iconic watches propelling watchmaking biggest brands we've got legendary chronographs Galore and maybe one or two 70s steel Sports stunners so let's begin first up the Omega speed Master moonwatch professional first launched back in 1957 as a timekeeper for sporting events but the watch was ultimately destined for space in 1962 astronaut Wally Shira wore his personal speed master during NASA's Mercury Mission and a few years later Omega submitted chronographs to NASA for testing and in 1965 the speed master became flight qualified for all manned space missions eating out Rolex to be the official watch of choice for NASA astronauts and in 1969 the speed master was warn by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren during a little known Mission I don't know you might have heard of it it was called going to the moon and walking on it since then the speed master has been part of all six moon landings and become an icon of modern watchmaking presented here in a stainless steel case with a clear white dial bright and crisp like the first snow of winter on the moon the latest generation of moon watch features all the Hallmarks of that original 60s model three subd layout a techim meter scale bezel and powered by the manually wound chronograph in-house caliber 3861 this is the king of chronographs and the Lord of all watches it costs £ 7,600 RRP or you can pick one up pre-owned for around £5,000 next we have have a watch conceived from The Challenge of creating a durable watch for polo players to use as timekeepers during matches in the 1930s that's right the challenge fell to Cesar detray a humble businessman and maker of gold Dentures of course who devised a watch with a case that could slide out of a cradle and be flipped over so that the dial side faced down protecting it from harm old-fashioned problems call for genius Solutions he approached his friend jacqu David lult to help produce the watch who in turn joined forces with watch maker Edmund Jer and thusly the reverso watch was born the swiveling watch has since gained iconic status and is now a Timeless Classic this latest reverso tribute monoface very closely resembles the original design codes of that historic piece with the simple geometry of its softly curved rectangular case featuring those emblematic gadun I.E the three grooves top and bottom of the watch case where one side is the dial and the other side just a polo match proof slab of Steel and the rectangular shape of the watch fits surprisingly well on the wrist making it a very comfortable and elegant everyday wear a reverso tribute monoface small seconds costs around £8,000 at retail but you can find them pre-owned for around £6,000 next we have the funat square-faced icon the tag Hoya Monaco launched back in 1969 and representing something completely unique for watch design at that time a big bold and water resistance Square case powered by the Revolutionary chronomatic caliber 11 Hoya's first automatic chronograph movement with a micro rotor the result of a joint venture led by hoyya alongside brightling and Hamilton shortly after its launch the watch found its way onto the set of the movie leemon where famous films actor and the official King of Cool Steve McQueen fell in love with it and proceeded to wear it in every scene of the movie Omega got the moon sure but tag hoyya got McQueen or Macky as I call him today the Monaco still retains its edgy Square case and midnight blue dial and even certain models like this still honor the radical switch of the crown to the 9:00 side of the case where it was put slightly Out Of Reach to demonstrate that winding was no longer required there's also the iconic golf stripes and Logo at 6:00 a nod to Mackey's emblematic Livery with its Timeless appeal and Superior craftsmanship this is arguably one of the coolest chronograph watches around monos start at around £7,000 at retail pre-owned though you can find some models for around £3,000 next we have a legendary Pilots watch from a brand synonymous with the world of Aviation this is the brightling navitimer in 1952 Willie brightling was asked to create a new chronograph for the members of the US aopa that's the aircraft owners and Pilots Association so he decided to create a wrist-worn instrument that would enable Pilots to perform necessary inflight calculations he adapted a logarithmic Slide Rule and implemented it into the rotating bezel of the watch enabling Pilots to perform intricate inlight computations things like fuel usage air speed and distance traveled directly on their wrist early na ERS also featured the Revolutionary caliber 11 movement but these days the popular Pilots watch is powered by brightlings proprietary caliber b01 a rigorously tested cost certified chronometer movement while the face still retains all the unique visual charm of the cockpit instrument style dial and the slide rule bezel remains in all its esoteric Glory the navitimer continues to be one of brightlings and indeed the industry's most iconic time pieces now this navitimer chronograph will cost you around £7,000 but you can pick up an earlier model for around £3,000 pre-owned but if you want to talk about the real pioneers of the pilots watch then let's talk about Cartier yes that's right Cartier made the first Pilots watch the Cartier Santos originally created in 1904 for the Brazilian invent and aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont Santos Dumont needed a safer way to tell the time than having to Fumble around his person to retrieve his pocket watch while buzzing around in the air in his flying Contraption so Cartier went about creating one of the world's earliest wrist watches and within a few weeks Louis Cartier had presented his pilot friend with a one-off model the very first CTI Santos apparently as The Story Goes Alberto Santos deont was well chuffed the 120 odd years since then has seen the Cartier Santos undergo several Transformations but it still retains many of its distinctive features like the exposed screws on the bezel the Cartier kashon crown and of course the Roman numeral hour markers which along with the shapely Square case design are both now signature Cartier and this evidently Timeless design makes for one of the most prestigious time pieces one could ever hope to own a large Santos costs around 7 12,000 but pre-owned you'll find them at around £55,000 but if you really want to talk about Pilot's watches then this here's your big boy the IWC big Pilots it's as striking as it is simple and Bears all the Hallmarks of what makes IWC great precise engineering and craftsmanship and a design led by pure function and of course a strong association with Aviation this big Pilot's watch features a high cont stle inspired by cockpit instruments with big Arabic markers and simple sword-shaped hour hands perfect for reading in the dark and then there's the oversized conle Crown intended initially for Easy grippage by pilots wearing thick gloves in unheated cockpits these days however it's just a cool talking point really and what is a watch without cool talking points I ask you this version in a 43mm steel case is pretty hefty but wears comfortably even on my weedy wrist it features a Sunray blue dial and an in-house caliber movement the IWC manufactured 8210 the IWC big Pilots is an unmistakable and undeniably cool watch at retail the big Pilots costs £7,500 pre-owned it's more like £6,000 now we have odmar pay's seminal time piece the Royal Oak considered by many to be the watch that saved the entire mechanical watchmaking industry when cold heartless quartz models caused a crisis in the 1970s with their pesky cheaper production costs and greater accuracy they almost wiped out the Beloved handwound ticker and during this tumultuous time odmar PGA decided to take a Gamble and create a watch that was more sporty than their usual High Prestige time pieces and more suitable for wider distribution the managing director of odmar PG George gole sought the help of watch designer Gerald Genta and asked him to create a steel sports watch that has never been done before the Royal Oak was revolutionary and marked the first time in the history of modern watchmaking that steel was considered a precious metal and the watch would go on to change the fortunes of the entire industry today the Royal Oak isn't far from genta's original sketch with the eight hexagonal bolts on the octagonal bezel bracelet with tapering links and the textural tapisserie pattern on the dial this model features a bright white dial and an Exquisite manufactured caliber with skeletonized rotor weight and the watch is now the main pillar in the odmar PGA catalog and is a status symbol for both horological conosur and Hip-Hop producers alike now due to the insanely high demand for this model you'll pay a small premium over retail and pre-owned this watch costs around £28,000 a few years on from the royal in 1976 another iconic Gerald genter design hit the market the Nautilus this time aiding PCH Philip create a stylish sports watch of their own the watch features a distinctive octagonal shape with rounded corners while the dial is horizontally embossed and the integrated bracelet adds to its sporty yet Refined Looks like the Royal Oak for odmar Pate the Nautilus is one of PCH Philip's most desirable models and today is considered considered a masterpiece of fine watchmaking with the iconic reference 5711 being discontinued in 2022 for being too good and making the rest of the PCH Philipe catalog look mediocre and uninteresting by comparison the Nautilus is a design icon and the 5711 remains a white hot piece of Steel and pre-owned they go for around 80,000 bucks next we have everyone's favorite Rolex and the coolest watch in school the cosmograph daytoner but believe it or not it wasn't always the popular hot ticket item it is today the model originally introduced in 1963 spent a good few decades as the poorly selling Rolex reject with many a rumor from those days describing scenarios where watch sellers were handing them to customers as an incentive to purchase other Rolex Watches or using them to stabilize wonky Tables by wedging them under the legs or just plain old chucking them up into ceiling f fans and making them ping off into the Far Corners of the boutique it was a different time back then but things started to pick up for the Daytona when Paul Newman started wearing one and then later when the model received a major redesign sportier bigger more modern and with a shiny new automatic movement these things saved the Daytona and helped it become the symbol of success and luxury that it is today here we have a Daytona in a 40mm steel case with a ceramic bezel with a white main dial offset against black sub dials in that iconic resemblance of a panda's face type Motif the Daytona is one of the most recognizable and sought after watches ever uh well that or the Submariner anyway due to the crazy demand for anything with the Rolex logo on the dial you'll pay more pre-owned for the convenience of skipping the legendary Rolex weight list finally we have one of the most prestigious and acclaimed brands with a watch famous for it revolutionary mechanical movement the El promero from Zenith the 1969 El promero was the first automatic chronograph movement released just before seiko's caliber 6139 and Hoyer and brightlings caliber 11 I mean it probably was just before I mean it was close Zenith was most likely the first because they named the movement El promero which means the first in Esperanto so they wouldn't have done that otherwise would they anyway it was an incredible movement highly accurate due to its exceptionally High beat rate oscillating at an extraordinary 36,000 vibrations per hour the other movements at the time were only 28,000 and able to measure time to the nearest tenth of a second and it's still going strong today powering watches like this chronometer Sport with its cool tricolor dial pump style pushes and a black ceramic bezel inside a Sleek 41 mm steel case this is a true enthusiasts time piece and if you want a watch that says I'm a real watch of ficado then Zenith is your man they go for around £10,000 at retail and around £7,000 pre-owned so there you have it those were the 10 most iconic watches from the 10 biggest brands I hope you enjoyed this rundown of the Heavy Hitters from the world of horology and if you want more amazing watches then why not head over to watchfinder do.com and find your next pre-owned luxury watch and I'll catch you next time goodbye