Collectors of mechanical watches are faced with having to either wind them up manually; or mount them to electrical watch winders aka motion machines which simulate wearer action. Otherwise, not wearing such a watch for a while will expend its stored spring-coil energy. Regardless of money spent, it'll stop. Meanwhile a cheap quartz movement won't suffer that blunt inconvenience until its battery fails many years later.


Ownership of multiple mechanical watches thus requires a certain slightly impractical protocol. Perhaps that's not so different from high-end systems which need to be warmed up for 30 minutes before sounding their best. The fine arts aspects of watch making extend to optics which include extreme levels of finish quality; and using the entire watch face as a de facto canvas. Our two BlancpaiN models here are examples of 3D artwork options.


These models and others like them combine painterly aspects with advanced alloy tech for patination and specific colours; and use miniature metalurgy, mosaic, enamel and related traditional arts. They also embody the type of extremely specialized craftsmanship that might limit execution to a single artist. If just one artist is capable of creating a particular watch face, it ensures instant exclusivity. And that's always at the base of peak pricing.

Another typical way to elevate a watch's basic functionality is to throw precious stones at it. Consider the diamond-encrusted Bulgari model at right. At what point good taste crosses over into garish bling is entirely in the eye of the beholder. What that Bulgari does as well is to, like nude motorcycles which strip off racy plastic fairings to show off raw hardware, display its mechanical guts. That proudly states "no battery inside".


The Chopard at left combines the face-as-painting option with the fine jewelry aspect of diamond setting. The Roger Dubuis at right has twelve 6.5mm bronze miniature knights who extend their swords at the hour markers and each hold a different helmet in the other hand. That aging eyes might require a jeweler's loup to fully appreciate the involved sculptural intricacies is besides the point.


So whilst one could argue with the excess of it all, there's no arguing the extreme craftsmanship involved. The implicit motto must be that "we can, therefore we do". Nobody really belabours the unnecessity of luxury watches. They're so obviously unnecessary as to not even require any verbal agreement. This instantly opens up the entire realm as an artisanal showcase. Being locked into having to be wearable, i.e. of a certain size, imposes strict limitations. Whatever fiendishly difficult engineering feats one may dream up, they must fit inside the case. These obvious challenges neatly support exorbitant prices. It's as easy to acknowledge that it's all perfectly unnecessary as it is to see often mindboggling mechanical complications. Those quickly give way to awe and delight in having been solved so elegantly; and perhaps desire to own.

That just because they're there doesn't mean they have to be scaled - that's never yet prevented mountaineers from climbing our highest peaks and often risk life or limb to do so. Much of luxury watch making is no different with its self-imposed challenges. Thus we have this Jacob Astronomia Clarity tourbillon watch which elevates kinetic sculptural art to a new level whilst the Bulgari snake watch reinforces haute horlogerie's identity as also being fine jewelry with that functional wrinkle of telling time.


Super high-end audio is just as unnecessary as these types of watches are. After all, the very definition of luxury is being blatantly unnecessary. Super high-end audio can further borrow from fine watch making the celebration of finish quality and mechanical complications for their own sake. Where things diverge is that except for portable hifi—we're beginning to see diamond-encrusted smartphones—home hifi can't be worn. It's not something one shows off in public. This eliminates some of the fashion and status symbol psychology and with it, hifi's appeal as fine jewelry though Dan D'Agostino for one would disagree and so would makers of outdoors headphones. Functionally meanwhile, we can probably argue that the job of music playback is more complex than telling time.


Achieving jewelry-type finishing on hifi equipment is difficult even for Swiss companies and the size of our goods mostly opts against gold or Platinum finishes though exceptions exist. For most hifi however, mechanical engineering seriously trails what the best watchmakers will do and show off.