If you’re a fan of horology, which reading this I am going to assume you are, you no doubt look to the likes of MB&F or Greubel Forsey with a sense of lust and desire. These brands, along with many others, are renowned for their high horology and producing some of the most complex complications in watchmaking. Unfortunately, for us mere mortals owning one of these pieces falls into the ‘when pigs can fly’ category. Begging the question, are there any affordable alternatives to haute horology creations?
The answer is a resounding yes. An MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual or Greubel Forsey Balancer Convex S2 will set you back over £170,000. However, we’ve found six watches that take some of the archetypal high horology complications and present them at a much more palatable price point.
Affordable Tourbillon: Horage Lensman 1
Despite often being made in small quantities the tourbillon is one of the most well-known high horology complications. Its purpose is linked solely to the pocket watch era. When a watch is in a stationary position (in your pocket) gravity has an effect on the movement which reduces timekeeping accuracy. To combat this, Abraham Louis Breguet discovered that by rotating the balance wheel gravity never impacts the movement in the same way. The tourbillon was born.
In today’s wristwatch world the tourbillon’s impact is greatly reduced as our wrists are constantly moving. However, this doesn’t stop the tourbillon being a highly desirable complication, even if it is mostly aesthetic now. Jaeger-LeCoultre offers a variety of tourbillon watches across their range with examples like the Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon setting you back around £98,500. Thankfully Swiss independent brand Horage offers a tourbillon for a fraction of the price.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
The Horage Lensman 1 was actually the second tourbillon from Horage. The first featured an open-worked dial whereas the Lensman 1 has more of a classical look. With a clean black dial your attention is drawn to the tourbillon at 6 o’clock. This is because the tourbillon is enhanced with a cyclops magnifier so you can see it in all its glory.
Where the Lensman 1 deserves extra credit is with the K-TOU in house movement. Designed and manufactured by Horage you could have a Swiss-made tourbillon for just CHF 8,890 (approx. £8,250).
Affordable Perpetual Calendar: Frederique Constant Perpetual Calendar Highlife
The tourbillon might have little practical use today but the same can’t be said for the perpetual calendar. Unlike regular date and month displays, the perpetual calendar will account for the different number of days in each month and the variance in February’s days during leap years. An annual calendar can also do the first part but it draws the line at leap years.
The first perpetual calendar wristwatch was developed by Patek Philippe in 1889. If kept wound, modern perpetuals will remain accurate until the year 2100. Due to a quirk in our calendar the year 2100 (and 2200 and 2300) are meant to be leap years but they won’t be. Thankfully IWC came up with a solution to this problem with their Portugieser Eternal Calendar which will adjust to this anomaly in February 2100. February 28th, 2100 will be a good day if you’re an Eternal Calendar owner.
IWC Eternal Calendar
IWC’s Eternal Calendar will empty your bank account of CHF 150,000 (approx. £139,000). Step up Frederique Constant who come to the rescue with their affordable high horology Perpetual Calendar Highlife at £7,995.
The Highlife is Frederique Constant’s sports model so you get a 41mm steel case with matching three-link steel bracelet. It’s a deadly combo of modern sports watch meets high-end watchmaking. If you like your high horology to be a little dressier Frederique Constant have added a perpetual calendar to their Classics collection. Just beware, neither are eternal calendars so you will need to reset in 2100.
Affordable Chiming Watch: Christopher Ward Bel Canto
Typically chiming watches can be split into two camps. Repeaters, which, with the push of a button, chime on demand and sonneries which will chime automatically. The most well-known form is a minute repeater and once again the name Abraham Louis Breguet deserves a mention here. Although Breguet didn’t invent chiming watches he was responsible for some significant developments that led to the minute repeater.
The original function of chiming time pieces was to still be able to tell the time in the dark with the audible sound created by gongs or hammers in the movement. The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Minute Repeater beautifully shows off its two gongs cut into the dial which strike metal rings on the dial’s outer edge. The price for this chiming wonder is around $296,000 (approx. £218,500).
H Moser & Cie. Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel
For our affordable high horology alternative we need look no further than Christopher Ward. Back in 2022 they caused quite a storm when they introduced the Christoper Ward C1 Bel Canto for just £3,530 on a bracelet. For that price you’re not getting a minute repeater, instead the Bel Canto is an hour striker or ‘Sonnerie au Passage’ which chimes automatically on the hour. The Bel Canto, similar to the Streamliner displays two gongs on the dial and the metal rings around the outer edge. Where the Bel Canto wins is with the choice of dial colours including green, blue, black, purple and a few others. By contrast the Streamliner is only available in Aqua Blue, although it does also have a tourbillon. Let’s call it a draw.
Affordable Split-Seconds Chronograph: Sea-Gull 70th Anniversary Rattrapante Limited Edition
The split-seconds chronograph, or rattrapante, is the one of the most complex chronographs you can find. Unlike a regular chronograph the split-second allows you to time two events simultaneously. It does this with the introduction of an additional chronograph hand, meaning most rattrapante can look a bit chaotic with 5 or more hands on the dial.
The A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Rattrapante is one of the best displays of a split-second chronograph complication. The dial actually contains 6 hands. Three for the usual hour, minutes, seconds and three for the split second chrono. The A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Rattrapante is priced as ‘price on request’ which usually means somewhere between a luxury family SUV and a small London flat.
A. Lange and Söhne 1815 Rattrapante Chronograph
If the 1815 Rattrapante catches your eye then you should take a look at Sea-Gull for an affordable high horology alternative. The SeaGull 70th Anniversary Rattrapante shares a lot of the same features as the 1815. It follows the same colour scheme with a black leather strap, white dial and blue hands. You also get a titanium case which is an added bonus instead of the usual steel. What’s most impressive is that Sea-Gull can offer their rattrapante for around £3,800.
Affordable Open Balance: Behrens Ultra Light 20
The balance wheel is the beating heart of any mechanical watch movement and is usually found hidden and nestled under the dial protected by base plates and bridges. Because of its rapid movement back and forth to regulate the movement it’s one of the more exciting elements of any calibre to look at. As a result brands started to open up dials and design movements so that the balance wheel could be seen either through the dial or reposition it above the dial altogether.
One of the hallmarks of MB&F is their flying balance wheel which can be found on most of the Legacy Machine timepieces. The flying balance suspends the balance wheel above the dial with wishbone shaped bridges. As one of the wonders of watchmaking MB&F chose to put the balance wheel front and centre. Relegating the time displays to smaller subdials. Flying balance wheels are the pinnacle of an open balance concept and a time-only MB&F Legacy Machine LM101 in white gold will set you back £72,600.
MB&F Legacy Machine LM101
To find a flying balance at an affordable price point is near impossible due to the level of engineering required. However, the Behrens Ultra Light 20 offers an open balance concept with several other features which more than make up for it. As the name suggests the watch weighs just 20 grams thanks to a grade 5 titanium case. Like the Legacy Machine the Ultra Light 20 doesn’t follow convention. The case shape is a curved trapezoid and the movement fully exposed beneath the crystal. Time telling happens with the use of two scales in the bottom corners either side of the exposed balance wheel. You can find the Behrens Ultra Light 20 is available from $7,600, approximately £5,650. Honourable mention also to the Christopher Ward C12 Loco but we’ve already spotlighted the Bel Canto.
Affordable Wandering Hours: Atowak Manta-X
The history of the wandering hours is a little bit patchy and it’s a complication that you will find very rarely. In fact only a handful of brands have ever produced a wandering hours watch. Its first appearance was during the 17th century as a clock for Pope Alexander VII. As the story goes the Pope suffered from insomnia and requested a clock that didn’t make any noise. The Campani Brothers, clockmakers from Rome, produced a clock that didn’t require a ‘noisy’ escapement and instead rotated continuously and silently. In modern watchmaking the wandering hours never really hit the mainstream until 1991 when Audemars Piguet revived the complication with their Starwheel.
Today AP continues to produce the Starwheel within the Code 11.59 collection. With wandering hours you don’t tell the time with hour and minute hands. Instead a fixed minute track, located at the top of the dial in the Code 11.59, is pointed to by a set of rotating disks with hour markers. When an hour marker is pointing directly to the minute track this signifies the time. At CHF 51,900 (approx. £48,200) and with limited numbers produced the Code 11.59 Starwheel isn’t easy to get hold of.
Audemars Piguet Code 11 59 Starwheel
Because of its rarity you won’t be spoilt for choice when looking for an affordable wandering hours. However, the Atowak Manta-X will tick this box. Released in April 2025 the Manta-X is a very different look to the AP. Where the Code 11.59 gives off classic dress watch vibes the Manta-X is more Star Wars spaceship. To match the futuristic look the Atowak boasts some crazy innovations. Instead of a wheel displaying the hour markers you’ll find two Hexa-Prisms, they’re sort of like dice with too many sides, for the hours. The minute track is equally bonkers using 5-minute interval markers which flip over like two sides of a coin to display the right time. It might not be an AP but for around £2,870 you get an affordable high horology complication with some world class innovation.
