Gold standard

There are thousands of watches out there but barely a handful of true “grail” timepieces like the Audemars Piguet “Royal Oak”. This classic was launched in 1972 as a steel sports watch and the range now extends to complications (additional functions, including date display or chronograph) and a $66,100 rose-gold version, shown here. Another constant: hexagonal “screws” securing the bezel. The watch spans 41 millimetres, is water resistant to 50 meters and powered by a self-winding movement.