Famous Watches
The following list presents famous watches that stunned the world with their captivating design and advanced technical features. Watches that had stood the test of time, maintaining their popularity through generations.
1. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
The Royal Oak series marked a new era in the watchmaking industry, being the first luxury watch made of stainless steel. In the 1970s Audemars Piguet decided to combine utilitarian steel sports watches and exclusive timepieces made of precious metals to create a practical luxury steel watch. The model's solid design remains popular to present day.
2. Cartier Santos
The history of this watch starts when aviator Alberto Santos asked watchmaker Louis-François Cartier to make a watch that would be easy for him to read while flying.
The resulting wristwatch became one of the most popular pilot watches ever, being used even by people who had nothing in common with aviation. Although launched more than 100 years ago, Santos is still produced to this day, being Cartier's all-time bestselling model.
3. Rolex Submariner
To understand how great and popular this timepiece is, it’s enough to know that this is the most copied and replicated watch in the world. Introduced in 1953, the Rolex Submariner underwent several upgrades, yet preserved its distinctive appeal and character. Its association with James Bond brought it an incredible boost in popularity and turned it into a symbol of status and manliness.
4. Casio G-Shock
The idea of making a shock-resistant watch came to Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe by accident. He dropped and broke his pocket watch received from his father, which led him think of a way of making a watch that would not break upon impact with the ground or floor. The task turned out to be more difficult than Kikuo and his teammates had imagined.
The solution came unexpectedly when Kikuo visited a playground. He realized that the center of rubber balls doesn't suffer damage when bounced. He applied the same principle on his watch, protecting the mechanical module with several rubber layers, hardened mineral glass, and stainless steel case. This resulted in a shock-resistant watch that quickly became popular with the public.
5. IWC Portuguiser
The Portuguiser came to life at the end of 1930s when two Portuguese merchants asked IWC to create a highly precise, legible, and large wristwatch. The new timepiece was unusually large at that time but inspired other brands to launch similar collections. Despite its minimalistic design, it remains a sought-after attribute among watch enthusiasts.
6. Patek Philippe Nautilus
This iconic watch has been in production since 1976. It was launched amidst the quartz crisis when watch brands looked for a way to reduce manufacturing costs while keeping performance and aesthetics at a high level.
Nautilus was the second major watch model released, after Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, made of stainless steel. Its aesthetically pleasing design and supreme technical characteristics turned it into an irreplaceable daily accessory for many people. Aside from visual appeal, it is resistant to pressure and temperatures, being made of the same metal used for war tanks.