10 Best Gold Watches For The Modern Well-Heeled Gentleman

“I love gold! The look of it! The smell of it! The taste of it! The texture!” Gold has always been seen as a symbol of distinction, with flashes of its bright tones making any timepiece all the more recognisable.

The versatility of gold lends itself to classical, conservative pieces, which respect the traditions and codes of watchmaking, to statement pieces, which utilise the colour of gold to draw all eyes to its desirable lustre.

Naturally, watchmakers often choose gold to house their most fanciful mechanical creations – so many of the world’s most impressive and exclusive watches are gold watches.

Here, we present a few of our favourite gold watches that make a statement for all the right reasons.

Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar

Let’s start things off with something a bit ornate – gold tends to suit high-end watches, funnily enough. The Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar is both highly traditional and somewhat avant-garde, combining classic high watchmaking mechanics with an original design.

This German-made annual calendar watch features an offset time-telling dial with a panoramic date window, moonphase indicator and a unique, curvaceous month display, all housed in a lustrous pink gold case.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar

This is another gold calendar watch, but one that’s far less conventional. Jaeger-LeCoultre is known for their high complications, but housing them in a dive watch – and then making the dive watch out of gold? That’s madness. But that’s also JLC, and this is a cracking gold watch.

The Polaris Perpetual Calendar’s Caliber 868 movement includes a moon phase in both hemispheres, is equipped with a retrograde hand for the Southern Hemisphere, and won’t need changing for a century. It’s also water-resistant to 100m, comes mounted on a rubber strap, and has a compressor-style bezel. This is a mental watch and we love it.

Rolex Day-Date 40 ‘President’

No other watch screams ‘old money’ quite like the classic Rolex Day-Date ‘President’. The nickname specifically refers to the yellow gold version of this watch on a ‘President’ bracelet and refers to the fact that every US President from LBJ to Clinton wore one of these bad boys while in office.

As the name implies, it features a day and a date window, the former spelling out the day of the week in full. The Day-Date is only ever made in precious metals (primarily gold) and is available in 16 different languages. This year, Rolex even released a fully platinum version of the Day-Date – but the buttery, yellow gold President is a timeless classic.

READ MORE: Rolex’s Most Understated Models Are Captivating Australian Watch Fans

Hublot Big Bang MECA-10 King Gold

Gold in all its forms has been prized since ancient times – but Hublot has taken the metal and modernised it for the 21st century. The entire case of the Big Bang MECA-10 King Gold is made of Hublot’s proprietary blend of 18ct King Gold, which doesn’t just look impressive, it’s the composition of the gold itself and its new-found properties that really puts it ahead of the pack.

The Hublot Metallurgy Department successfully combined ceramic and gold to create the world’s first and only scratch-proof gold. The matte finish of its case combined with its unique colour really set the watch apart. That’s before we start talking about its MECA-10 movement, which boasts a whopping 10-day power reserve and an eye-catching power reserve indicator.

Cartier Tank Louis Cartier

The Cartier Tank is arguably the archetypal dress watch… There’s a solid argument to be made that no man’s wardrobe would be complete without a gold Tank. First created by Louis Cartier in 1917 and inspired by the new Renault tanks which saw use on the Western Front in WWI, the Tank is a perennially stylish choice and one of the best gold watches on the market.

This large manual-winding model is cased in rose gold and features a beaded crown set with a sapphire cabochon, a silvered beaded dial, blued-steel sword-shaped hands and a brown alligator strap. Talk about old-school cool.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222

A recreation of the famous 222 luxury sports watch, the grandfather of the ever-popular Overseas, the Vacheron Constantin Historiques 222 has been one of the most hyped watch releases in recent memory. It’s remarkably faithful to the 70s original – right down to that awesome integrated bracelet and its absurdly heavy weight on the wrist – but with a few key differences.

The main difference is that unlike the original, the new 222 has a sapphire caseback, which lets you admire its Calibre 2455/2 movement and its ‘222’ engraved rotor. This thing is absolute grail material and is just what a gold watch should be: eye-catching, a bit outrageous, and extremely luxurious.

READ MORE: Brad Pitt Proves He’s Hollywood Gold With $200,000 Watch At British Grand Prix

Chopard Alpine Eagle

Another luxury sports watch that absolutely shines in gold, the Chopard Alpine Eagle is one of the most underrated and luxurious gold watches a gentleman can strap to his wrist.

Not only does its integrated bracelet resemble a swathe of gold bullion dripping down your wrist, but the super-cool dial – modelled after an eagle’s iris – is mesmerising to look at. Crafted in ethical 18-carat rose gold, it beats to the rhythm of a chronometer-certified movement.

Patek Philippe Calatrava

Patek Philippe makes a majority of their watches out of gold, and this Calatrava – with its delightful Clous de Paris hobnail bezel – is the perfect example of a stylish gold dress watch. Can someone say old-school cool?

This Calatrava’s elegantly refined rose gold case houses Patek’s new manually-wound in-house 30-255 PS movement which boasts a 65-hour power reserve. At only 8mm thick, this is as dapper as they come.

WATCH our guide to the most expensive Patek Philippe watches of all time below.

A. Lange & Söhne Triple Split

A. Lange & Söhne is a highly prestigious firm that has a long history of producing some of the most refined, complicated and stylish timepieces in horological history. Like Patek, they’re also known for producing virtually all their models in precious metals – which usually means gold.

The Triple Split is the world’s first mechanical split-seconds chronograph that allows for multi-hour comparative time measurements – that is, the Triple Split can compare the times of two opponents in a race, time consecutively starting events or add the times of multi-hour events.

OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Moonshine Gold

Speaking of cool gold chronographs, this new rendition of the famous OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch is an absolute killer. It’s crafted from OMEGA’s proprietary Moonshine Gold: an 18ct yellow gold alloy that has a distinctively paler hue than traditional 18ct yellow gold, and is much more resistant to the fading of colour and lustre over time.

Combine that lovely gold with that green PVD dial and bezel, and you’ve got a truly luxurious combination on your hands. Of course, green and gold are Australia’s signature sporting colours, so this new ‘Speedy’ represents perhaps the pinnacle of horological perfection for any patriotic Aussie.

READ MORE: The ‘Australian’ Watch Trend Taking The World By Storm: Green & Gold Watches

Our research & why you should trust us

Our research process for selecting these best chronograph watches is based on our previous experience trying on and owning these watches for ourselves. We have over 15 years of experience in the luxury watch space.

• We have tried on a majority of these watches and rigorously tested their functions, features and wearability, and we regularly update this article.
• There’s no product placement in this article – this is our pure, unadulterated opinion informed by years of experience writing about watches.
• We’ve provided a diverse mix of price points, materials, case sizes, aesthetics and brands in order to provide a thorough cross-section of the gold watches on the market.
• All of the watches included are manufactured by reputable, established brands that have been in the watch business for many years. No dodgy microbrands here!
• We regularly attend watch fairs in person such as Watches & Wonders as well as visit boutiques both officially and off the clock in order to stay up-to-date on the watch industry.