10 of the coolest watches of all time

UR-110 Torpedo / Photo/ Creative Commons, I-watch / Photo / AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez, Piguet Star Wheel / Photo / Creative Commons

Apple has launched their smart watch and it's got watchmakers worried.

The sleek timepiece will be available for around US$349 from early next year.

Meanwhile, shares of Fossil, Movado and Swatch tumbled after Apple's announcement.

There have been many innovative and creative watches over the years. Remember the Casio calculator watch? Here are 10 creative and innovative watches:

1. Midnight Planétarium timepiece

by Van Cleef & Arpels

Want to know when Jupiter will next be aligned with Mars? You need this watch from Van Cleef & Arpels. It has six rotating disks, each with a tiny planet. The disks move at different speeds - accurate to how long it takes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn to orbit the sun.

2. UR-110 Torpedo

by Urwerk

Micro-mechanics have never looked so good, according to Urwerk's Facebook page.

The watch has three 'torpedoes' in formation to show the time.

An indicator alerts the user when it is time for a service; the 'Day/Night' indicator helps keep track of changing time zones; and twin turbines on the back minimize wear in the automatic winding system.

3. Eye Of A Storm

by yiran qian

This watch doesn't have a face. It is entirely black until you push a button. Then, coloured lights illuminate along the frame showing the time.

4. The Opus XI

by Denis Giguet for Harry Winston

According to Harry Winston, the Opus Eleven has a technology and architecture that have never been seen before.

"Ingenious mechanisms give the watch a rare character - an explosive temperament that makes a sport of time. In addition to its role as an instrument, Opus Eleven creates an engineering puzzle that resolves itself on the hour."

Only 111 of these timepieces were created.

5. Excalibur Roundtable Watch

by Roger Dubuis

This watch is a limited-edition model and has 12 sculptural "knights" stationed at each hour marker.

The watch depicts a scene from the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

6. The Winch Tourbillon Vertical

by Cabestan

This watch has 1,352 separate components, all put together by hand. It is built around a winch-driven chain fusee movement. It has a tiny 450-link chain and nickel silver drums. The watch is wound using little capstans.

7. The Bird Repeater

by Jaquet Droz

The dial of this watch is done by hand in incredible detail. A mother-of-pearl base dial is hand-engraved and painted. And standard and black mother-of-pearl pieces create the forest and river scene. There is a moving waterfall, and and a chick that comes out of an egg.

8. Piguet Star Wheel

by Audemars

This watch features an unusual time indication through a star wheel. It has three sapphire disks with printed hours which rotate on a centre wheel.

These watches are out of production.

9. Active Matrix EPD e-Ink

by Seiko

This has a display of 300dpi to show sharp, clear images. The time is always accurate, and the battery does not need changing.

10. Aquarium 'Koi in a muddy pond'

by Angular Momentum

Angular Momentum make handmade timepieces and fountain pens. Accoding to their description, this watch is a two-body 1.4435Cnu Staybrite case with polished bezel and satinated sides. It has stainless steel lugs and fittings, sapphire crystal, a stainless steel crown with cabochon Onix, hand-winding movement, digital time display by hour. The aquarium showing a koi in a muddy pond, is engraved in very high relief 925 silver, purple, gold and Ruthenium treated surface. The eye is a black diamond.