This $150,000 Mechanical Watch Is Really A Weather Station

Sensor-laden watches that electronically measure the temperature, barometric pressure, and magnetic north are fairly cheap. A nice Casio can be had for about $200. But if you’re one of those high-tech, post-IPO types that wants to feel like Phileas Fogg for a minute or two each day, you can shell out $150,000 for the Breva Génie 01, a mechanical watch that measures altitude, temperature, and predicts the weather using tiny moving parts.

Why, you ask? Because they can. And because you can afford it.

The Génie 01 looks like any other high-end watch that costs more than our cars combined. It is clad in white or rose gold and includes a small chamber that expands or contracts depending on barometric pressure, thereby allowing you to predict rain. It also has a power reserve indicator that shows the energy left in the mainspring. As befitting a timepiece, they’ve been kind enough to add a small hours, minutes, and seconds indicator.

Why is it so expensive? Probably because each of the 405 pieces is handmade and it is literally a unique work of art, made in limited series and available only to the creme of the watch-buying oligarchs. While it won’t survive a fall quite like a Casio, you’ll at least be able to stop your entourage of lantern-jawed men and beautiful women, consult your watch, and say, in your captain of industry voice, “Y’all going to need umbrellas.”

You can check out more on the watch here or pick up one of the 110 made at your local watch shop (not really.)