, and in particular the Reference 5119 Calatrava. The Calatrava Clous de Paris Ref. 3919 was first introduced in 1985, and the Ref 5119 is based on that watch but 2.5mm larger in diameter to keep up with contemporary trends in watch design.

The story of Patek Philippe & Co. begins with Polish migrants in Geneva, Switzerland in 1839. They started making luxury watches for a few years, and then they separated and Patek joined up with a French watchmaker named Adrien Philippe. The rest, as they say, is history. The company now makes 40,000 watches a year and some of their most prized timepieces fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. These are very high-end watches — a major step up in luxury compared to a Rolex, for example. The Patek Philippe Calatrava watch pictured would bring an estimated $15,000 – $20,000 at auction.

Here’s a name I’m not familiar with in the watch world: Autodromo. They’ve got a collection of watches that bring those speedometers and tachometers of Italian sports cars from the 1950′s and 1960′s to your wrist. I’ve got to say, they look absolutely amazing, even if they aren’t the first or even the 100th watch to be inspired by the racing world.

I’m told the three models, which are named the Vallelunga, Veloce, and Brescia, retail for about $425. They look to be worth every penny, but who knows if these are really quality watches. Something about the perforated leather strap just seems cheap to me, but it’s not like that’s something that’s expensive to replace. I’d probably take it off before I even wore it for the first time and replace it with something a bit more substantial-looking. Of course, this noble watch blogger has been known to wear Nato straps on a Rolex. There’s just something aesthetically pleasing about dressing down the upscale or dressing up the downscale.

This is the second Breitling to be featured in as our Watch of the Week, and this one is a bit more conventional for the brand name. The Breitling Cosmonaute is busy, complicated, and absolutely beautiful. Originally designed as a 24-hour version of the popular pilot’s watch, a Cosmonaute was on the wrist of an astronaut during the United States’ second orbital flight. It lost out to the Omega Speedmaster as the official watch of the first moon landing.

The iconic feature of these watches is the slide rule, which of course seems dated in our world of calculators available on our phones, but was seen as an important feature for people using their watch in the field (or in the air) during the early 1960′s. It was actually the slide rule that kept the Cosmonaute from being able to have the water and air tightness required by NASA for the hallowed moon landing watch.

The movement on these is the Venus caliber 178 movement that was also available on the Navitimer, except with the extra 24-hour gear. Some models of the Cosmonaute do actually use the Navitimer name (under Cosmonaute) on the dial.

One exceptionally rare variation of the Cosmonaute was made in 1967 and has 809-36 on the back of the case. This watch has a Valjoux 7736 movement instead of the Venus 178. Little is known about this variation other than the fact that it does exist and it’s both rare and valuable. I have yet to see an information about why this watch with this particular movement was made.

The price for this watches fluctuates between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on the exact model and condition, as always.

For this Wednesday’s Watch of the Week selection I decided to look back to some of the vintage pieces of the mid-20th century, and found this beautiful

. It’s made with 14K solid gold and comes with its original box.

Longines was a prominent name in watchmaking back then, and their advertising was everywhere. If you went to a baseball game 60 years ago, chances are the name on the clock on the scoreboard (this would have been the pre-digital era) had the name “Longines” on it. I know this was the case in old Yankee Stadium, and the same was true in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

Although the Longines name is not nearly as recognizable today as it once was, they are still highly regarded in the watch world for their quality and affordability. They may lack the advertising budget of Citizen or Omega, but they make up for it with a rich history. This is the company that measured times for the first modern Olympics. This was the company that made the Aviators watches for Charles Lindbergh — using his specifications to make sure it was useful and not just for show. In its 180 year history, the company has made over 30 million watches.

I prefer the simple dials available on many Longines over the Aviators, but I encourage you to start your own search for a vintage Longines model that suits your own tastes.

The Panerai Luminor is one of those watches that very few of your friends or co-workers will be familiar with, but they’re one of the most popular men’s watches on men’s style websites and the fashion blogosphere. Originally an Italian brand, the company is now Swiss owned and these watches are in fact made in Switzerland.

Panerais have been sold for decades in various styles, many of them looking generally similar with black dials and silver cases on a leather band, although other options are available and I think the steel bands look fantastic. The Marina, GMT, and Submersible are among the popular variants. Prices vary depending on the year, the model, and condition, but they generally sell in the $4,000 to $7,000 range. That might be a little expensive for a watch that lacks the “common man prestige” that comes from a name like Rolex, but people who know about fine watches know the name Panerai.

Little-known fact: as the Panerai brand was struggling to gain a foothold in the civilian market after ceasing production for the Italian military, Sylvester Stallone may have been responsible for giving the watchmaker a sudden boost in popularity. He bought a Panerai in Rome back in 1995, wore it during the filming of a movie, and then bought a small lot of them to give to friends with his signature on the back. The brand has been gaining in popularity ever since.

The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch was made to commemorate the 40th anniversary of our first landing on the moon. Neil Armstrong wore a Speedmaster during that mission, although he left it in the landing capsule when he made his moonwalk, so it’s not accurate to say that a Speedmaster has been exposed to outer space. Omega still boasts that theirs is the watch that went to the moon in some print advertisements.

Omega has good reason to brag, because NASA actually selected the use of the Speedmaster because it had the qualities they were looking for to not only withstand the vibrations and extreme temperatures that could be involved with the mission, but also to potentially serve as backup in case some vital timekeeping equipment failed. The astronauts were trained to use their watches to calculate things like thruster burn times and distance traveled.

The Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch did not actually travel to the moon, but it does a great job of honoring its timekeeping forefathers who did. With a beautiful black dial with white dashes, it reminds one of outer space. Included on the watch dial is a small token of an eagle landing on the moon. A larger version of this token is included in the limited edition case that comes with the watch. Although it’s only been a few years since these were sold as new, there is still plenty of demand for them. Prices on “the electronic bay” range from $5,000 to $7,000.

Original versions of the Speedmaster that Armstrong and other Apollo 11 astronauts wore sell for between $1,000 and $3,000, so that might be a better option if you’re on a limited budget and you don’t have to have the limited edition with the token. They’ve made a watch commemorating Apollo 11 multiple times now, so we might be seeing one next year, and there will definitely be one forthcoming for the 50th anniversary in 2018.

The 2012 Baselworld show featured this amazing liquid-driven piston and gear driven concept watch from Vincent Perriard & Co. With a suggested price of $45,000, it’s actually a lot cheaper than some other watches featuring one-of-a-kind advanced mechanisms, and it’s believed the use of Fluorescein (the green liquid in the video) in the liquid-driven pistons is a first in the world of horology.

Prices on the Silverstone range from $4,000 to $6,000, with the originals from the 1970′s in decent shape demanding a premium over the reissue.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Dieter Rams and the design work he did while working for Braun during the latter half of the 20th century. A lot of the simplified designs that are popular today pay homage to Rams, including just about everything made by Apple. On that note, I present to you our watch of the week: the Braun BN0035.

The Braun BN0035 is both simple and stylish and is the perfect casual watch that looks substantial without being gaudy. That’s the problem with most higher-end watches: they are so flashy they are hard to tell apart from the $15 knock-offs sold at unscrupulous flea markets. Anybody can add some shiny metal and stones to a $5 watch, but it takes a true artist to make something that looks simple without looking cheap. This watch achieves that goal perfectly.

This watch retails in the $300-$350 range, and you’ll rarely find it discounted. I can’t remember the last time I saw a used one on the market, which might say something about the affection owners have for this design and its reliability.