Five of the most over-the-top luxury watches to hit 2017

This year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) featured exquisite pieces from the world’s biggest watchmakers. Craftsmanship aside, some models verged on the sublime – and the ridiculous.

Holy cow! To protest the tightened legislation of the “Swiss Made” label, folks at H.Moser & Cie created a watch using real Swiss cheese – literally. The Swiss Mad watch – referred to as the “most Swiss-made watch ever” features a bezel made with actual Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese mixed with a special resin and is priced at a whopping 1,081,291 CHF (HK$ 8,384,000) – referencing the founding date of Switzerland: August 1, 1291. A dairy-free version is also available, the Venturer Swiss Mad, in a limited edition of 50 pieces featuring hand-wound HMC 327 calibre and the brand’s iconic fume dial in red.

How light is 38 grams? Probably no heavier than a handful of sugar cubes. It’s also the weight of Richard Mille’s new tourbillon chronograph. The timepiece, created in collaboration with McLaren F1 racing team is the world’s lightest split-seconds tourbillon chronograph. Titanium, TPT Carbon as well as a new graphene-based composite are used to lighten the watch case. Limited to only 75 pieces.

This beautiful table clock was certainly the centre of attention at Van Cleef & Arpels’ SIHH booth. Set to be activated every 15 minutes at the fair, the clock features a fairy admiring the blossoming of a lotus revealing a butterfly inside. The intricate mechanism is a collaboration between Van Cleef & Arpels’ artisans and automaton maker Francois Junod. The piece is currently not for sale.