10 Best Luxury Watches for 2012

HYT H1 Titanium
Price: Starts at a reported $45,000

Clearly, this is not the ultimate watch in terms of design for 2012. Let's be honest, this sucker is downright bizarre to look at. But for pure technological watch innovation, there is no question Swiss-based HYT wins the prize with its H1. In fact, it won watchmaker Vincent Perriard the prize for this year's Innovation Watch category from the Fondation du Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve.

I will spare you the deep geek on the H1, other than to say the unit is essentially fluid-powered: Two small reservoirs are filled with separate liquids that react to the world in different ways, expanding and contracting and driving a small membrane separating the two pools. That moving membrane drives the watch's movement. And time is told. Yes, it's all wild, but it all works. It's worth taking a deeper dive on its inner workings on the company site.

Now be warned, all these fluid dynamics give the unit an overbearing feel. I find the face hard to read. But the H1 is far from the oddest-looking watch on the market. And if you want to make the ultimate statement in tech watches, show up with this thing on your wrist and you will be up to the second in terms of telling time.

This commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet guest contributor program. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of TheStreet or its management.

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