Look at any car, and you can at least begin to see why they cost as much as they do. There’s the cost of all the raw materials for a start, everything from the metal panels to the rubber keeping it stuck to the road needs to be considered. Then there is the complexity of manufacturing the powerplant, electronics, suspension, and all the other components that make a car a car. Cars just look expensive. Not that we’re saying that Swiss watches don’t, but if you sit one next to a high-end BMW and ask someone to point at the most expensive of the two, they’re probably going to point at the BMW. 

However, if that watch is from the Hautlence range, then there’s a very good chance the watch wins. For instance, the Hautlence Sphere watch comes with a hefty price tag of over $90,000. Hautlence has been designing and creating “unconventional” watches since the company was founded in 2004. Since then, the company has produced innovative, limited-run watches that play with the way people tell time. 

Among the unusual designs incorporated into the watches are hands replaced with rotating chains — and, if you’ve got a spare $165,000 to spend, you could opt for a watch modeled after the Star Trek communicator. Ultimately, the price comes from the fact that these are hand-crafted pieces of precision engineering that are driven by complex mechanical movements, use premium materials, and have extremely limited production runs, with a maximum of 28 watches produced from any design. 

As a case study, we can “flip the grille” on the Star Trek-themed Retrovision ’64 watch. This ably demonstrates the company’s commitment to creating timepieces that tell the time differently. In this instance, the hours are displayed horizontally below the main dial and “flip” instantly thanks to a custom linear mechanism developed in partnership with Agenhor, another high-end Swiss watchmaker. Also, rather than dilithium crystals, it’s powered by the self-winding mechanism of the watch’s D50 automatic movement, which gives it a power reserve of at least 72 hours. This is a similar mechanism to that used in Rolex watches that allows them to run without a battery. 

Staying on the subject of crystals, the D50 mechanism is a 39-jewel movement that operates at 21,600 vibrations per hour or 3Hz. Essentially, this means that the mechanism oscillates six times per second. Dimensions-wise, the watch is 61.2 x 41.8 x 15.6 mm. Astonishingly, within this restrictive space, the watchmakers have crammed an impressive 239 components. This includes a flying minute tourbillon that’s designed to remove the influence of gravity on the movement. 

The majority of the watch case is made from grade 5 titanium, with sapphire crystal used for the glass at the front and back of the watch. It’s this mix of premium materials, precision engineering, and the expense of developing a watch with a production run of just three that helps explain why this watch costs more than most cars. Hautlence might not be among the biggest luxury watch brands, but with the Retrovision ’64 watch, it’s certainly reaching for the stars.