11 Best Left-Handed Watches - Rolex, Panerai, IWC, Tag Heuer and More

Watches & Wonders was nothing short of a whirlwind. In fact, here at WristEnthusiast, we were clocking dozens and dozens of hours with the keyboard over about 8 days. Needless to say, we saw everything, and we covered damn near everything we could. One of the standout releases was the Rolex VTNR - Left Hand GMT-Master II. As a lefty myself, I was beyond excited about it, but there is no doubt this watch was divisive, controversial, and out of left field.

But it did get us to thinking about the popularity of Left-Handed watches, or “Destro” watches. So we decided to put together a list of some of our favorites from various brands around the major landscape of the watch industry.

The Tag Heuer Monaco Calibre 11

Before you jump down my throat with “This isn’t really a left-handed watch!” I vehemently disagree. Calibre 11 was a staple movement in the Tag Heuer Monaco because it eliminated the need for a Manual Wind watch, and quickly became the ORIGINAL racing watch. The crown is on the left, while the pushers are on the right. Steve McQueen famously wore this watch (on his right hand).

It measures in at 39mm (but wears a little bigger because it’s square) in stainless steel, and comes on a black leather racing strap. The dial is textured with a very fine sandblast-esque treatment. The horizontal stick indices are lume-filled and easy to read, while the orange hands and pips stand out for legibility. The pushers being on the right make it easy to use on a wrist, and the crown being on the left makes the watch a must-have for left hand watch wearers.

The watch is available on Tag Heuer’s website for a modest $6,950 USD.

Panerai Luminor Marina Left-Handed 8 Days (Ref. PAM00796)

When it comes to oversized tool watches, Panerai immediately comes to mind. Panerai is actually one of the few brands that regularly releases left-handed watches. Often immediately recognizable by the large crescent crown-guard and lock, Panerai has an unmistakably utilitarian look.

The PAM00796 features a large 44mm case and comes in stainless steel. Because of the cushion case, this is a watch for larger wrists, but still wears very well. The sandwhich dial is nothing short of lovely, and the lack of clutter on the dial makes it one of the more legible left-handed tool watches there is. The manual-wound P.5001 movement features a whopping 8 days of power reserve, 21 jewels, and features the brands Incabloc shock resistance, making this watch a solid daily wear that’s long lasting, and durable.

You can still purchase this watch on the brand’s website for $9,000 USD.

Oris AQUIS RED Left-Handed LIMITED EDITION

Oris comes in as our first designated dive watch on the list. Oris can often be a sleeper hit, but makes some serious solid tool watches for a reasonable price. You won’t be breaking the bank to pick up an Oris Aquis, so it was nice seeing that they made a model specifically for Left-Handed wearers with the Aquis Red Limited Edition.

The watch features a cool red accented black and grey color scheme that makes it superbly legible. The white BG-W9 lume-filled indices will burn bright in most every scenario, so it makes the watch a formidable dive companion. The 43mm stainless steel case is fitted with a fortified rubber strap and fold-over strap with adjustment mechanism - meaning it can easily slide over a wetsuit if needed. Additionally, the watch features a whopping 300 meters of water resistance, so you’ll never really have to worry about getting it wet at any depth.

Unfortunately, the watch has been discontinued, but I’ve found a number of this reference on the secondary market for less than $2,000 USD.

IWC Big Pilot Watch “Right Hander”

Would you believe it? IWC has never had a modern left-handed watch until 2019 when they released what became the Big Pilot “Right Hander” - a Big Pilot with the brand’s signature oversized onion crown on the left. The brand utilized it’s case profile from it’s 1940’s references, so the watch is oversized and utilitarian for Pilot’s. And what Left-Handed list would be complete without this watch?

The watch measures in at a whopping 46.2mm and features a stainless steel case with iron inlay to protect from magnetism from aircraft. The dial is a sunburst grey, and besides a small “1” on the subdial, the watch is monochromatic in design - an important feature for a Pilot’s watch. The date window is legible (as is the entire watch), and the oversized Pilot hands pop against the dial. The watch comes on a riveted black calfskin leather strap.

Inside the Big Pilot “Right Hander” is the IWC 52010 Calibre - a workhorse movement with 168-Hours of power reserve. The watch was limited to 250-pieces, and has since sold out, but you can find the watch on the secondary market for just around the $14,000 USD mark. You can find out more about the “Right Hander” at IWC’s website.

Sinn Mission TIMER EZM 7 Watch

A brand that often gets (unfairly) snubbed in these kinds of list is Sinn, who consistently makes quality watches with strong utility. I added the Pilot Watch 857 because it’s one of the few Sinn watches that are both left-handed, and feature a solid complication. The 857 is the first watch on our list that features a GMT function.

The Sinn Pilot Watch 857 measures in at 43mm and can come both naked, or with a black DLC coating, giving the watch a more tactical look. Additionally, the colorful burst around the bezel give the wearer a ton of function when timing breathing devices. Additionally, the brand has included a small 24-Hour ring at the center of the dial that utilizes a skeletonized hand to determine military time.

While the watch does seem discontinued, you can read more about it on the brands website.

MB&F HM3 ReBel

The MB&F HM3 ReBel (R for Right Hand, and B for Black Case) is our first not-so-obvious contender for our favorite Left-Handed watches. It’s a peculiar watch that needs a little bit of explaining to understand what’s going on. The original HM3 was designed with two shaped “cones” (for lack of a better term") that made the case basically impossible to wear on the right wrist. After some careful configuration changes, the brand swapped those cones to the opposite side. So despite the crown still being on the right, the HM3 ReBel is still very much a watch designed to be worn on the right wrist.

The watch is unique in that it is White Gold, but colored with Charcoal, giving it it’s black hue. The time is told by two separate cone-shaped discs, while the movement also features a day/night indicator, and a 22k white gold rotor visible through the front of the watch. The watch comes on a hand-stitched alligator leather strap, and was limited to 18 pieces (however, I have it on good authority that these are all spoken for. You can try to find one on the secondary market). You can check out the Horological Machine No. 3 more generally on MB&F’s website.

Vintage Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 6542 “Destro”

Many might remember this watch circa 2018 when it made the auction rounds with Phillips when the Vintage Rolex GMT-Master sold for a staggering $270,000 USD - Almost triple it’s estimation. The watch was in decent shape, all things considered, and in the highly sought-after Pepsi configuration. The watch was kind of a plethora of “best of” features including the Bakelite bezel, aged indices, and a really cool story.

The watch was originally designed to aid Pan-Am pilots 33,000 feet above sea level. The brand has often been noted for not really taking into consideration left-handed individuals, and there were very few instances of the brand actually creating any Destro versions of their watches. While this watch isn’t widely available, we wanted to add it to the list because it marked quite a historic time that has led us to creating this article in the first place.

Citizen Promaster NY0100-50ME

Citizen may not pop into your mind as a frontrunner for great left-handed watches. But the brand has released a number of really nice, really affordable Destro watches in the last couple of decades. Among my absolute favorites is the Promaster NY100-50ME. The watch takes a very traditional diver configuration and flips it around to make it superbly comfortable on the right wrist - Because if you’ve ever worn a diver with a pusher at 4 o’ clock on your right hand, you know you’re in for a bruise.

The watch case is Titanium, and measures in at a seriously modest 42mm x 13mm - making it a remarkably wearable Promaster Diver (which are known for being oversized). And being that it’s Titanium, it doesn’t weigh as much as a brick. The indices are over-sized and lume-filled making it very legible, and the 200M of water resistance gives it solid performance in the water.

While the watch is technically discontinued, you can find the Citizen Promaster NY0100-50ME all over the internet for around $350 USD - a more than reasonable price for the watch.

Zenith El Primero Pilot “Lefty” Watch

Th El Primero has forever been one of my favorite chronographs of all time. It’s a clean look with a ton of high-performance functionality. Which made me real excited when I stumbled upon the El Primero Pilot Lefty in the Zenith’s catalogue a number of years ago - unfortunately, they only made one. To mark the occasion of Only Watch in 2011, Zenith made a pair of left-handed El-Primero watches, much to the surprised of everyone. To my knowledge, they’ve never made another, which really boggles my mind.

The watch measures in at 42mm and is made out of Stainless Steel. The monochromatic dial is superbly legible, and while the pushers being on the left side of the case will trigger a lot of Zenith purists, I find it to be utilitarian enough to be attractive. I just wish they made more than one.

Tudor Pelegos LHD

What list would be complete without arguably the (second) most famous left hand watch on the market, the Tudor Pelagos LHD. When the watch was released, I remember a lot of enthusiasts not really knowing what to do with the model. Was it solely designed for lefty’s? Was the yellowish-green hue of the indices normal? Was the matte texture of the dial and bezel attractive? What was the utility?

Never-the-less, the watch grew on everyone and it became a famed and widely accepted watch amongst the enthusiast crowd. When it comes to Tool watches, it’s hard to argue with the Pelagos in general, let alone the Pelagos specifically designed for lefty’s - a nod to the brand’s history with the French Navy, who specifically commissioned a dive watch designed around their left-handed divers.

The watch measures in at 42mm in a Titanium “satin finished” case. To add to the tool-watch vibes, the LHD has an over-killed 500m of water resistance giving the watch an insane amount of depth ability. Additionally, the watch includes the brands COSC certified Manufacture Calibre MT5612-LHD movement. The automatice movement features a 70-hour power reserve which makes this watch an almost perfect luxury daily wearer for the left-handed enthusiast.

Rolex GMT-Master II 126720VTNR “Destro”

Which brings us to the watch we’ve all been waiting for - the Rolex GMT Master II VTNR “Destro” - The industry-breaking left-handed watch coming out of Watches & Wonders 2022. It seems that the majority of enthusiasts have a hatred for the VTNR due to its “backwards” configuration. The brand opted to put the date on the left, which seems to be the major concern around its “awkwardness”.

Personally? I don’t mind it. The simple answer is that people will get used to it as they did with a number of Rolex releases over the last few years. Is it groundbreaking? Of course not, but it’s certainly not going to stop people from buying it, so what incentive does Rolex have to listen? In fact, rumors at the show seems likely that this watch will see a 3-4 year wait right out of the gate.

Aesthetically, the watch is great. The green and black ceramic bezel is something that a lot of people wanted (though, admittedly probably not in a left-hand watch), and other than the entire configuration being essentially mirrored, it’s still quintessentially a Rolex GMT-Master II. The stainless steel case measures in at 42mm, the movement cyclops date is still front-and-center, and the watch will be fitted on either Oyster Bracelet or Jubilee Bracelet.

The watch is already released, but that’s assuming you can get your hands on one, as… well… Rolex. Price for the watch will come in at $11,250 USD.