9 Watches Perfect for Those Seeking Quiet Luxury
Last year, the term “quiet luxury” firmly solidified its place in the cultural zeitgeist. Back in April 2023, searches for the term skyrocketed 373 percent—apparently in the wake of the premiere of Succession Season 4 and Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial in Utah, but we might more readily cite shifts in the sartorial zeitgeist globally. Such shifts are hard to account for, but they can be seen in data, such as the dropping prices on louder Rolex sports watches and the skyrocketing value of the dressier Rolex Day-Date 36. Whatever the reasons, quiet luxury is going off with a… well, a whisper, perhaps.
For the uninitiated, this expensive trend takes a minimalist approach to style emphasizing high-quality materials and timeless elegance—think the opposite of the ’80s and ’90s when bold logos and branding were the way to flex your wealth and show you were in vogue.
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The “quiet” approach to design is pervasive in all facets of the luxury world from legendary fashion brands like Giorgio Armani to the top watchmakers. Though the “stealth wealth” movement has undeniably gained traction in the past couple of years, many luxury brands have been employing this philosophy in their designs for decades. In fact, some of the watch industry’s most prominent and popular makers have defined their ethos around the concept, from Laurent Ferrier with its Classic Moon and other time-only models to Patek Philippe with its new, chilled-out Ellipse.
Below are the best nine watches currently for sale that exude quiet luxury. Shhhhh…
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Patek Philippe Calatrava 5226G
Is there any watch more timeless or elegant than the Patek Philippe Calatrava? If you’re asked to picture a classic round wristwatch, the Calatrava is likely what comes to mind. With its clean lines and no-frills aesthetic, its design draws from the Bauhaus movement that emphasizes minimalism. In the model’s nearly 100-year history, it has seen many iterations, but the 5226G rises above the rest. Robb Report’s digital watch editor Allen Farmelo calls the 5226g the greatest watch of the 21st century (so far) for its mastery of understated luxury and postmodern retro-aesthetics. At a distance, this simple yet significant white gold classic from Patek might appear as nothing more than a stainless steel field watch—this is quiet luxury epitomized.
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Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde
When it comes to quiet luxury, Parmigiani Fleurier is the full embodiment. It’s a brand for the purest collectors and enthusiasts who are in the know. In its nearly 30-year history, you could point to countless models in the brand’s catalog that exude quiet luxury, but this year, Parmigiani released a model that became an instant classic. The Toric Petite Seconde was arguably one of the most talked about releases at this year’s Watches & Wonders. Crafted from platinum, the 42.5 mm watch positively radiates understated luxury, and it gets the added bonus of a subtle sage green dial, leaning into the trend of pale green watches while remaining definitively timeless.
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Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Manual-Winding Pink Gold
There’s no denying that today’s watch enthusiast is more interested in a classic dress watch, and smaller ones in particular, than in the past decade. This trend is directly tied to the surge of interest in quiet luxury in the past couple of years. Vacheron Constantin is a brand that’s no stranger to taking a “quiet” approach to watchmaking. You can trace this ethos back to the brand’s minimalist dress watches of the 1950s, an era that delivered the quintessential dress watch we know today. The Traditionnelle Manual-Winding Pink Gold is one of Vacheron’s contemporary interpretations. This particular variation offers iconic features, like the railroad-style minute-counter around the periphery, and gets a dose of modernity with a dial and bracelet rendered in the color of the moment: green.
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Piaget Altaplano Origin 35 mm
Just look at a Piaget catalog, and you’ll find loads of vintage dress watch models. However, historically, many of these featured stone dials and arguably more feminine aesthetics. In 2021, the brand debuted a dress watch with a firmly unisex style and build, one with a simple, confident, and more traditional design: the Altaplano Origin 35 mm. Despite the bold red strap, the model maintains the principles of stealth wealth thanks to Piaget’s watchmaking prowess in the way of ultra-thin timepieces. The Altaplano Origin 35 mm features one of the most beautiful auto-winding movements on the market today, the caliber 501P which comes in at just 3.6 mm in thickness.
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Chopard L.U.C. Qualité Fleurier
When you consider Chopard, you might think of bold or blinged-out timepieces. However, the brand is equally accomplished on the quieter side where elegance and sophistication merge. Some might even argue that achieving horological subtlety is the more difficult design brief: enter the L.U.C. Qualité Fleurier. Chopard is the current custodian of the Fleurier Quality Foundation, the famous watchmaking town’s own horological certification program, and this watch is the first Chopard reference to carry that high distinction. The dial here is every bit as sporty and functional as it is minimalist and reserved—this is stealth wealth at its finest.
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Laurent Ferrier Série Atelier Classic Auto Sandstone
While Laurent Ferrier is a younger brand, it still embraces a traditional aesthetic and timeless approach to watchmaking. Models like the Série Atelier Classic Auto Sandstone demonstrate that independent watchmakers don’t need attention-grabbing designs or over-the-top complications to prove their watchmaking expertise. Historically, the brand has gotten playful with its Série Atelier collection, but this year, it’s taken an understated approach, capturing one of the qualities we love most about the brand’s watches. Add in the bonus of a highly detailed and well-decorated movement with a whopping 139 manual finishing operations, and you have the ultimate quiet luxury timepiece.
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Rolex 1908 in Platinum with Ice Blue Dial
Rolex is arguably the most recognizable name in watches, from collectors and enthusiasts to the general public. In 2023, the Crown revitalized its dress watch offerings with a subtle and sleek model: the 1908. Like the name, which references the year the Rolex trademark was officially registered in Switzerland, the design of the 1908 offers historic design cues with a round, midsize case in precious metals and a leather strap. Inside, you get the luxury of Rolex’s in-house 7140 movement with superlative chronometer certification and the brand’s Syloxi hairspring in silicon with a patented geometry that ensures greater regularity between various positions. The latest incarnation of the 1908 offers a platinum build and ice blue dial with a rice-grain guilloche texture.
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Grand Seiko SLGW004/005
Back in 2017, Grand Seiko went through an important moment of redefining its brand strategy, notably dropping “Seiko” from the prominent location at the top of its dials and inserting an elegant “GS” in its place. With its new, elevated brand in place, Grand Seiko proceeded to inundate the market with watches showcasing gorgeous dials celebrating the seemingly countless micro-seasons delineated in Japan. When you look at the brand’s watches over the past decade, you see these guiding principles, but just last month, Grand Seiko made the bold move to return to its roots, recreating the acclaimed manually-wound, high beat 45GS models from 1967 with the introduction of the SLGW004/005. Inside, you’ll find the caliber 9SA4, the first new hi-beat, manual movement from Grand Seiko for more than 50 years.
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Breguet Classique 7637
At a glance, Breguet’s Classique 7637 may look like a straightforward time-only model, but under the hood lies one horology’s most elite complications: the minute repeater. This is the very embodiment of quiet luxury. The Classique 7637 is a masterpiece of complex construction and expert finishing in an utterly classic package. Breguet has chosen a traditional round case and stunning Grand Feu enamel dial for the design. This unassuming aesthetic gives way to the model’s technical complexity, housing a minute repeater complication, which hails from the genius of Abraham-Louis Breguet himself and his invention of the gong-spring back in 1783. This chiming mechanism is activated by a svelte slider at nine o’clock that’s so discrete, it rings “quiet luxury” (pun intended).
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