This $34,000 Watch Was Also An Aston Martin's Car Key

Aston Martin has been around for some time as the manufacturer of some seriously exquisite machinery. In order to try and get one step ahead of the crowd in the world of luxury and performance cars, the British automaker has pushed some pretty cool features into production, such as the first fully digital gauge cluster in the Aston Martin Lagonda and, more recently, a watch that also doubled as a key.

Now, this is Aston Martin, so don't go expecting it to be some sort of Casio with a plastic fob tacked onto the back. Rather, the watch is produced by the iconic watchmaker, Jaeger-LeCoultre, whose story dates back almost 200 years. The watch in question is dubbed the AMVOX2 Rapide Transponder, and within it, sits the transponder that can send locking and unlocking signals to the car. Simply push the watch face between the eight and the nine to unlock the vehicle and between two and three to lock it. Pushing both at the same time will flash the car's lights — this feature is reportedly designed to help the owner find their car in packed parking lots, but, more likely, it's built-in so you can show off at a fancy dinner party. When was the last time you lost an Aston Martin in a parking lot, anyway?

The watch in question is nothing new. It debuted around 15 years ago now and pairs with the Aston Martin Rapide, while the idea and original partnership between Aston Martin and Jaeger-LeCoultre was born in 2008. When new in 2010, the Rapide sported an asking price of $199,950, although that didn't include the watch, which would set interested parties back at additional $34,000.

The two brands released AMVOX watches for three separate vehicles: the DB9, DBS, and Rapide. However, you had to have the right watch and the right car for it to work — you couldn't simply buy any Jaeger-LeCoultre watch and expect it to work with your Aston. In 2014, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Aston Martin got together again and released a new model, which could now pair with any new Aston for a more seamless operation.

If this sounds like the perfect new timepiece for you, then prepare yourself for a wait, as only very rarely do the Transponder models come up for sale. Jaeger-LeCoultre made many AMVOX watches, but very few of them are the Transponder versions. When used examples come up for sale, they can still sport prices north of $20,000. 

For a while, this trick watch was the most expensive car key you could buy, but some years later Bugatti managed to beat Aston Martin, and by quite some margin. With 34.5 carats of diamonds and 175 grams of 18-carat gold, the Awain-built Chiron key retailed for north of $500,000 when new. As impressive as that is, the AMVOX Transponder watches could at least tell you the time, and they were arguably cooler for allowing you to live out your spy fantasies in a modern Aston Martin inspired by James Bond's coolest car.