About time: three kings

Late December is one of my favourite times of the year, and not just because of all the undeserved gifts I receive. No, my love for the year's end is primarily down to the plethora of Best of the Year lists that magazines, newspapers and websites publish. To the untrained eye they may seem like lazy journalism but in reality they satisfy two of men's baser urges - for the nice orderly presentation of information and for having things ranked.

So, as a lover of lists it behoves me to rank my own top three watches of the year for you - and we begin in reverse order, with the Cartier Tortue XXL Multiple Time Zone (above right), which made its debut right at the start of the year at Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. This watch makes my list for a number of reasons but chief among them are its design and movement. The map projection fits in with the classic design of Roman numerals, Breguet-style hands, white gold case and black leather strap (there is also a red gold and brown leather version). Inside the tonneau case, which measures 51mm by 45.6mm, is a Cartier made movement - the 1904 MC . Among the functions, as the name implies, is a second time zone, but there is also a summer time correction push button at the two o'clock position for quick changes. Prices for the Cartier Tortue XXL Multiple Time Zone start at HK$320,000.

My second top watch of the year is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver (above left). This watch is an absolute gem and the best iteration of the icon released in 2013. Standout points are the masculine and sporty design, which retains and even emphasises all the usual Royal Oak Offshore design motifs, including the octagonal bezel and the tapisserie pattern on the dial. The colour scheme is a rather menacing and distinctive all black with touches of white and red. The watch also wins points for its use of materials, including its black ceramic case (42mm) and bezel, and titanium on the case back, links and pin buckle on its black rubber strap. Inside ticks an in-house self-winding Calibre 3120 that provides 60 hours of power reserve. Features are pretty simple - there's a date window at the three o'clock position and, this being a diving watch, water resistance of up to 300 metres. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit of a sucker for both the Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore lines anyway, but the colour scheme and materials on this watch really make it stand out. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver is priced at about HK$185,000.

Lastly, we have the best watch of the year, according to your humble columnist - the MB&F Legacy Machine No 2 (right). The LM2 is a brilliant fusion of classic watchmaking design and the bold creativeness that marks out independent brands such as MB&F. Aside from its gorgeous design, the LM2 takes the visually pleasing escapement from the LM1 and doubles things up, with one on either side of the off-centre dial. The use of two escapements has precedent stretching back to watchmakers such as Abraham-Louis Breguet and the LM2 taps into that tradition but also plays with it. The escapements come alive with the pulsing balance wheels that hover over the dial, making this watch a piece of dramatic art on your wrist. Another feather in the LM2's cap is the superstar team - including movement genius Jean-Francois Mojon and finishing maestro Kari Voutilainen - behind it. The case is sized at 44mm and comes in either red or white gold or in limited-edition platinum, with prices starting at HK$1.2 million.