Luxury wrist watches do more than tell time. Besides proclaiming your status they may also display the phases of the moon, the time of year, the precise second that just slipped away, and can even remind the wearer of an appointment. Luxury watches complement your life, accessorize your wardrobe and ultimately become heirlooms for future generations.

Luxury watches are real works of art. They are superb instrumentations created by talented craftsmen who work miraculously with gold, diamonds, springs, gears, and tiny tools. The reason why the best Swiss watches cost so much is because they are hand crafted with layers of delicacy, skill, and precision going into the making of these exquisite watches.

At the top of the watch chain are luxury watches like Patek Philippe or Breguet that can perhaps cost more than most annual salaries. People fortunate enough to actually afford them do more so with the thought of brand value than about how well it can tell time.

In a recent survey of the top 17 ultra luxury watchmakers by the Luxury Institute, a Manhattan-based research group that tracks the wealthiest consumers in the U.S. and the companies that cater to them, Rolex and Cartier were the two best-known brands.

But in terms of brand status and overall quality, the respondents to the survey, each of whom has a minimum net worth of $5 million, said the winners were Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Franck Muller, Harry Winston, IWC, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Ulysee-Nardin and Vacheron Constantin