Only 20 of these watches exist in the world, and it’s not hard to see why. The solid gold dial of each DB25 Quetzalcoatl has been hand-carved into its namesake, a coiled, feathered snake, surrounded by hour indexes in the shape of ancient temples.

The feathered serpent is one of the main divinities of the Mesoamerican civilisations and reigned for many centuries over pre-Columbian America.

This powerful symbol of Mesoamerican culture was at the core of worship and sacred rituals and, in conjunction with the evening star, was considered to govern the cycle of time from dawn to dusk. The snake’s head shows the hours and the tail of the snake indicates the minutes.

This historical dimension is clearly supported by the dial, which provides an aerial view of the ruins of the Aztec temples from the city of Tenochtitlan.

DB25 Quetzalcoatl
$119,878, De Bethune, www.debethune.ch