Watch of the Day · 2026-08-10 · from the archive
Vacheron Constantin Chronograph
Ref. 4178 · Stainless Steel — one documented result from the 1,156-lot MostExpensiveWatches auction record, featured today.
Widely considered one of the most beautiful chronograph designs of all time, the 4178 in steel is significantly rarer than the gold versions, featuring the iconic teardrop lugs.
The $150,000 sale of this Vacheron Constantin Reference 4178 at Phillips Geneva in 2016 reflects the scarcity of stainless steel examples. Featuring teardrop lugs, the steel 4178 is significantly rarer than gold versions. Within a corpus of 55 documented brand results—where the record is $8,000,
Full lot record & sources All Vacheron Constantin results The Grail Index
Previous watches of the day
| Date | Watch | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-20 | Audemars Piguet Jumping Hour (circa 1928) | $1,016,000 · Christie's New York · 2026 |
| 2026-08-19 | George Daniels Anniversary | $452,700 · Phillips Geneva · 2019 |
| 2026-08-18 | Richard Mille Felipe Massa 'White Demon' | $378,000 · Christie's Dubai · 2023 |
| 2026-08-17 | Rolex Daytona 'The Legend' | $3,726,000 · Phillips Geneva · 2017 |
| 2026-08-16 | Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar | $398,000 · Sotheby's Geneva · 2022 |
| 2026-08-15 | Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe (1 of 1) | $302,400 · Christie's Dubai · 2025 |
| 2026-08-14 | Rolex GMT-Master "Marlon Brando" | $1,952,000 · Phillips New York · 2019 |
| 2026-08-13 | George Daniels Anniversary | $1,260,614 · Phillips Geneva · 2023 |
| 2026-08-12 | Greubel Forsey Invention Piece 2 | $423,395 · Christie's Hong Kong · 2024 |
| 2026-08-11 | Cartier Tank Louis Cartier | $379,500 · Christie's New York · 2017 |
| 2026-08-09 | Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° | $225,806 · Phillips Hong Kong · 2016 |
| 2026-08-08 | Greubel Forsey Balancier Convexe S² Carbon | $176,400 · Christie's Dubai · 2025 |
| 2026-08-07 | Urwerk Maltese Falcon | $133,197 · Phillips Geneva · 2024 |
| 2026-08-06 | Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Grand Complication | $1,134,000 · Sotheby's New York · 2022 |
About this series
Every day MostExpensiveWatches features one documented auction result from its comp corpus — hammer prices with primary sources, the record layer behind the Grail Index and the daily Price Index. Machine-readable: /data/watch-of-the-day.json. Cite as “MostExpensiveWatches Watch of the Day”.
Compiled: 2026-08-10T00:15:25.038141+00:00