A $693,000 Watch Skips the Case and Puts the Diamonds Where the Engine Is

A one-of-a-kind tourbillon has just done something modern watchmaking had never managed: set diamonds directly onto the balance wheel, the small spinning part that actually keeps a mechanical watch honest, ticking away inside the case rather than sitting for display on top of it. It is priced at $693,000. Down here, where Palm Beach keeps its money quiet, Naples keeps it quieter, and Miami never has, that number alone won't turn many heads. What will is the idea of decorating the one component built to be seen by no one — the engine, not the dial — and doing it anyway, because somewhere a client wanted precision and spectacle in the same three millimeters.

With reporting from Robb Report.