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Complication (horology)
Encyclopedia
In horology
(study of clocks), complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds.
A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes, and seconds is otherwise known as a simple movement. Common additions such as day/date displays, chronographs, and automatic winding mechanisms are usually not sufficient to permit a movement to be called complicated. Moreover, that a watch movement may be a Certified Chronometer
does not itself count as a complication.
The more complications in a watch, the more difficult it is to design, create, assemble, and repair. A typical date-display chronograph may have up to 250 parts, while a particularly complex watch may have a thousand or more parts. Watches with several complications are referred to as grandes complications.
The initial ultra-complicated watches appeared due to watchmakers' ambitious attempts to unite a great number of functions in a case of a single timepiece. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated, and even ultra-complicated, watches.
Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet
, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin
.
, barometer
(rare in watches; more frequent in clocks), compass
, or altimeter
. Many horologists will not count nonhorological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, and some purists even exclude the power reserve
from the complications count because it does not show a time indication (although its function is related to timekeeping).
In horology
(study of clocks), complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds.
A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes, and seconds is otherwise known as a simple movement. Common additions such as day/date displays, chronographs, and automatic winding mechanisms are usually not sufficient to permit a movement to be called complicated. Moreover, that a watch movement may be a Certified Chronometer
does not itself count as a complication.
The more complications in a watch, the more difficult it is to design, create, assemble, and repair. A typical date-display chronograph may have up to 250 parts, while a particularly complex watch may have a thousand or more parts. Watches with several complications are referred to as grandes complications.
The initial ultra-complicated watches appeared due to watchmakers' ambitious attempts to unite a great number of functions in a case of a single timepiece. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated, and even ultra-complicated, watches.
Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet
, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin
.Ultra-complicated watches
, barometer
(rare in watches; more frequent in clocks), compass
, or altimeter
. Many horologists will not count nonhorological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, and some purists even exclude the power reserve
from the complications count because it does not show a time indication (although its function is related to timekeeping).
one common definition is a watch that contains at least three complications, with at least one coming from each of the groups listed below:
In horology
(study of clocks), complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds.
A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes, and seconds is otherwise known as a simple movement. Common additions such as day/date displays, chronographs, and automatic winding mechanisms are usually not sufficient to permit a movement to be called complicated. Moreover, that a watch movement may be a Certified Chronometer
does not itself count as a complication.
The more complications in a watch, the more difficult it is to design, create, assemble, and repair. A typical date-display chronograph may have up to 250 parts, while a particularly complex watch may have a thousand or more parts. Watches with several complications are referred to as grandes complications.
The initial ultra-complicated watches appeared due to watchmakers' ambitious attempts to unite a great number of functions in a case of a single timepiece. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated, and even ultra-complicated, watches.
Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet
, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin
.Ultra-complicated watches
, barometer
(rare in watches; more frequent in clocks), compass
, or altimeter
. Many horologists will not count nonhorological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, and some purists even exclude the power reserve
from the complications count because it does not show a time indication (although its function is related to timekeeping).
one common definition is a watch that contains at least three complications, with at least one coming from each of the groups listed below:
The Franck Muller Aeternitas Mega 4 is the world's most complicated wristwatch. It has 36 complications, 25 of them visible, 1483 components and 1000-year calendar. http://professionalwatches.com/2010/01/worlds_most_complicated_wristw.html
Horology
Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
(study of clocks), complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds.
A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes, and seconds is otherwise known as a simple movement. Common additions such as day/date displays, chronographs, and automatic winding mechanisms are usually not sufficient to permit a movement to be called complicated. Moreover, that a watch movement may be a Certified Chronometer
COSC
COSC aka C.O.S.C. is Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, which is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of wristwatches in Switzerland.-Background:...
does not itself count as a complication.
The more complications in a watch, the more difficult it is to design, create, assemble, and repair. A typical date-display chronograph may have up to 250 parts, while a particularly complex watch may have a thousand or more parts. Watches with several complications are referred to as grandes complications.
The initial ultra-complicated watches appeared due to watchmakers' ambitious attempts to unite a great number of functions in a case of a single timepiece. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated, and even ultra-complicated, watches.
Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet
Breguet (watch)
Breguet is a manufacturer of luxury watches, founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland...
, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin is a Swiss manufacture of prestige watches and a brand of the Richemont group. Considered by watch enthusiasts to be one of the finest traditional watch makers in the world along with Patek Philippe & Co., Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet.It employs around 400 people...
.
Examples
Examples of complications include:- 24-hour watch
- Automatic watchAutomatic watchAn automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch, whose mainspring is wound automatically by the natural motion of the wearer's arm, providing energy to run the watch, to make it unnecessary to manually wind the watch. A watch which is not self-winding is called a manual watch...
(self-winding watch) - ChronographChronographA chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
for measuring short time periods - Double chronographDouble chronographDouble chronograph is a watch that includes two separate stopwatch mechanisms in order to estimate two separate events of different durations. It is often confused with the flyback chronograph.-Functioning:...
or rattrapante, split-second timing or lap timing - Flyback chronographFlyback chronographA flyback chronograph is a complication watch, which uses a single push of the button for stopping, resetting and restarting the chronograph function of the watch.-Other names:The flyback function has also some other names:* Retour-en-vol * Taylor system...
, can be reset while the timer is running - Date display
- Day of week display
- Second time zone
- Equation of timeEquation of timeThe equation of time is the difference between apparent solar time and mean solar time. At any given instant, this difference will be the same for every observer...
- Display of zone solar timeSolar timeSolar time is a reckoning of the passage of time based on the Sun's position in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time and mean solar time .-Introduction:...
(as opposed to standard timeStandard timeStandard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. Historically, this helped in the process of weather forecasting and train travel. The concept...
) - Display of true local solar timeSolar timeSolar time is a reckoning of the passage of time based on the Sun's position in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time and mean solar time .-Introduction:...
- Display of sidereal timeSidereal timeSidereal time is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky...
- Display of time zoneTime zoneA time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
s (for the world traveler) - Time of sunset
- Time of sunrise
- Easter date calculators
- Quarter repeater
- Five-minute repeater
- Minute repeaterMinute repeaterA repeater is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock that audibly chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button. There are many types of repeater, from the simple repeater which merely strikes the number of hours, to the minute repeater which chimes the time down to the...
- Passing strike (chiming watch)
- Alarm
- Month display
- Sign of the ZodiacZodiacIn astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
- Display of leap yearLeap yearA leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
cycle (year 1 to 4) - Moon phases
- Mechanised star chartStar chartA star chart is a map of the night sky. Astronomers divide these into grids to use them more easily. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars, constellations and galaxies. They have been used for human navigation since time immemorial...
- AstrolabeAstrolabeAn astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
dial - Perpetual calendarPerpetual calendarA perpetual calendar is a calendar which is good for a span of many years, such as the Runic calendar.- General information :...
- Annual calendarAnnual calendarAnnual calendar is the feature that refers to a mechanical watch. It automatically adjusts months with 30 or 31 days and needs to be manually corrected when February turns into March...
- Power reservePower reservePower Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...
or réserve de marche - Quickset date
- Week of year
- Dead second
- Foudroyante (Flying Seconds)
- TourbillonTourbillonIn horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement. Developed around 1795 by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet from an earlier idea by the English chronometer maker John Arnold a tourbillon aims to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the...
(considered by some to not be a complication but rather a mechanical refinement) - Time signalTime signalA time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.-Audible and visible time signals:...
processor
Nonhorological complications
Sometimes various displays in or on a watch are counted as complications even if they have nothing to do with timetelling. Often-seen examples include thermometerThermometer
Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
, barometer
Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
(rare in watches; more frequent in clocks), compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
, or altimeter
Altimeter
An altimeter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth underwater.-Pressure altimeter:...
. Many horologists will not count nonhorological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, and some purists even exclude the power reserve
Power reserve
Power Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...
from the complications count because it does not show a time indication (although its function is related to timekeeping).
Grand complications
A grand complication is a watch with several complications, the most complex achievements of haute horlogerie, or fine watchmaking. Although there is no 'official' definition, one common definition is a watch that contains at least three complications, with at least one coming from each of the groups listed below:| Timing complications | Astronomical complications | Striking complications |
|---|---|---|
| Simple chronograph | Simple calendar | Alarm |
| Counter chronograph | Perpetual calendar | Quarter repeater |
| Split-second flyback chronograph | Moon phases | Half-quarter repeater |
| Independent second-hand chronograph | Equation of time | Five-minute repeater |
| Jumping second-hand chronograph | Minute repeater | |
| Passing strike |
The most complicated pocket watch movements
According to watch manufacturer Patek Philippe, the three most complicated watches in the world are all pocket watches made by that company.- The Patek Philippe Calibre 89Calibre 89The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 is a commemorative pocket watch created in 1989, to celebrate the company's 150th anniversary. Declared by Patek Philippe as "the most complicated watch in the world", it weighs 1.1 kg, exhibits 24 hands and has 1,728 components in total, including a thermometer and a...
has 33 complications, using a total of 1728 parts. It was released in 1989 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the company. The complications include the date of EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, sidereal time, and a 2800-star celestial chart. - The Super-complication built for Henry Graves, Jr. in 1933 has 24 complications. The watch was reportedly the culmination of a watch arms race between Graves and James Ward PackardJames Ward PackardJames Ward Packard was an American automobile manufacturer who founded the Packard Motor Car Company and Packard Electric Company with his brother William Doud Packard.-Life and career:...
. The Super-complication took three years to design and five to build, and sports a chart of the nighttime sky at Graves' home in New York. This was the world's most expensive watch when it was auctioned off for USD $11-million in 1999, it now ranks second.
In horology
Horology
Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
(study of clocks), complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds.
A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes, and seconds is otherwise known as a simple movement. Common additions such as day/date displays, chronographs, and automatic winding mechanisms are usually not sufficient to permit a movement to be called complicated. Moreover, that a watch movement may be a Certified Chronometer
COSC
COSC aka C.O.S.C. is Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, which is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of wristwatches in Switzerland.-Background:...
does not itself count as a complication.
The more complications in a watch, the more difficult it is to design, create, assemble, and repair. A typical date-display chronograph may have up to 250 parts, while a particularly complex watch may have a thousand or more parts. Watches with several complications are referred to as grandes complications.
The initial ultra-complicated watches appeared due to watchmakers' ambitious attempts to unite a great number of functions in a case of a single timepiece. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated, and even ultra-complicated, watches.
Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet
Breguet (watch)
Breguet is a manufacturer of luxury watches, founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland...
, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin is a Swiss manufacture of prestige watches and a brand of the Richemont group. Considered by watch enthusiasts to be one of the finest traditional watch makers in the world along with Patek Philippe & Co., Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet.It employs around 400 people...
.Ultra-complicated watches
Examples
Examples of complications include:- 24-hour watch
- Automatic watchAutomatic watchAn automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch, whose mainspring is wound automatically by the natural motion of the wearer's arm, providing energy to run the watch, to make it unnecessary to manually wind the watch. A watch which is not self-winding is called a manual watch...
(self-winding watch) - ChronographChronographA chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
for measuring short time periods - Double chronographDouble chronographDouble chronograph is a watch that includes two separate stopwatch mechanisms in order to estimate two separate events of different durations. It is often confused with the flyback chronograph.-Functioning:...
or rattrapante, split-second timing or lap timing - Flyback chronographFlyback chronographA flyback chronograph is a complication watch, which uses a single push of the button for stopping, resetting and restarting the chronograph function of the watch.-Other names:The flyback function has also some other names:* Retour-en-vol * Taylor system...
, can be reset while the timer is running - Date display
- Day of week display
- Second time zone
- Equation of timeEquation of timeThe equation of time is the difference between apparent solar time and mean solar time. At any given instant, this difference will be the same for every observer...
- Display of zone solar timeSolar timeSolar time is a reckoning of the passage of time based on the Sun's position in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time and mean solar time .-Introduction:...
(as opposed to standard timeStandard timeStandard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. Historically, this helped in the process of weather forecasting and train travel. The concept...
) - Display of true local solar timeSolar timeSolar time is a reckoning of the passage of time based on the Sun's position in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time and mean solar time .-Introduction:...
- Display of sidereal timeSidereal timeSidereal time is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky...
- Display of time zoneTime zoneA time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
s (for the world traveler) - Time of sunset
- Time of sunrise
- Easter date calculators
- Quarter repeater
- Five-minute repeater
- Minute repeaterMinute repeaterA repeater is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock that audibly chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button. There are many types of repeater, from the simple repeater which merely strikes the number of hours, to the minute repeater which chimes the time down to the...
- Passing strike (chiming watch)
- Alarm
- Month display
- Sign of the ZodiacZodiacIn astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
- Display of leap yearLeap yearA leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
cycle (year 1 to 4) - Moon phases
- Mechanised star chartStar chartA star chart is a map of the night sky. Astronomers divide these into grids to use them more easily. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars, constellations and galaxies. They have been used for human navigation since time immemorial...
- AstrolabeAstrolabeAn astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
dial - Perpetual calendarPerpetual calendarA perpetual calendar is a calendar which is good for a span of many years, such as the Runic calendar.- General information :...
- Annual calendarAnnual calendarAnnual calendar is the feature that refers to a mechanical watch. It automatically adjusts months with 30 or 31 days and needs to be manually corrected when February turns into March...
- Power reservePower reservePower Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...
or réserve de marche - Quickset date
- Week of year
- Dead second
- Foudroyante (Flying Seconds)
- TourbillonTourbillonIn horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement. Developed around 1795 by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet from an earlier idea by the English chronometer maker John Arnold a tourbillon aims to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the...
(considered by some to not be a complication but rather a mechanical refinement) - Time signalTime signalA time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.-Audible and visible time signals:...
processor
Nonhorological complications
Sometimes various displays in or on a watch are counted as complications even if they have nothing to do with timetelling. Often-seen examples include thermometerThermometer
Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
, barometer
Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
(rare in watches; more frequent in clocks), compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
, or altimeter
Altimeter
An altimeter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth underwater.-Pressure altimeter:...
. Many horologists will not count nonhorological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, and some purists even exclude the power reserve
Power reserve
Power Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...
from the complications count because it does not show a time indication (although its function is related to timekeeping).
Grand complications
A grand complication is a watch with several complications, the most complex achievements of haute horlogerie, or fine watchmaking. Although there is no 'official' definition,one common definition is a watch that contains at least three complications, with at least one coming from each of the groups listed below:
| Timing complications | Astronomical complications | Striking complications |
|---|---|---|
| Simple chronograph | Simple calendar | Alarm |
| Counter chronograph | Perpetual calendar | Quarter repeater |
| Split-second flyback chronograph | Moon phases | Half-quarter repeater |
| Independent second-hand chronograph | Equation of time | Five-minute repeater |
| Jumping second-hand chronograph | Minute repeater | |
| Passing strike |
The most complicated pocket watch movements
According to watch manufacturer Patek Philippe, the three most complicated watches in the world are all pocket watches made by that company.- The Patek Philippe Calibre 89Calibre 89The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 is a commemorative pocket watch created in 1989, to celebrate the company's 150th anniversary. Declared by Patek Philippe as "the most complicated watch in the world", it weighs 1.1 kg, exhibits 24 hands and has 1,728 components in total, including a thermometer and a...
has 33 complications, using a total of 1728 parts. It was released in 1989 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the company.Watches - Switzerland - Information - swissworld.org, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, General Secretariat, Presence Switzerland. The complications include the date of EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, sidereal time, and a 2800-star celestial chart. - The Super-complication built for Henry Graves, Jr. in 1933 has 24 complications. The watch was reportedly the culmination of a watch arms race between Graves and James Ward PackardJames Ward PackardJames Ward Packard was an American automobile manufacturer who founded the Packard Motor Car Company and Packard Electric Company with his brother William Doud Packard.-Life and career:...
. The Super-complication took three years to design and five to build, and sports a chart of the nighttime sky at Graves' home in New York. This was the world's most expensive watch when it was auctioned off for USD $11-million in 1999, it now ranks second.
In horology
Horology
Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
(study of clocks), complication refers to any feature in a timepiece beyond the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds.
A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes, and seconds is otherwise known as a simple movement. Common additions such as day/date displays, chronographs, and automatic winding mechanisms are usually not sufficient to permit a movement to be called complicated. Moreover, that a watch movement may be a Certified Chronometer
COSC
COSC aka C.O.S.C. is Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, which is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of wristwatches in Switzerland.-Background:...
does not itself count as a complication.
The more complications in a watch, the more difficult it is to design, create, assemble, and repair. A typical date-display chronograph may have up to 250 parts, while a particularly complex watch may have a thousand or more parts. Watches with several complications are referred to as grandes complications.
The initial ultra-complicated watches appeared due to watchmakers' ambitious attempts to unite a great number of functions in a case of a single timepiece. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated, and even ultra-complicated, watches.
Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet
Breguet (watch)
Breguet is a manufacturer of luxury watches, founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland...
, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin is a Swiss manufacture of prestige watches and a brand of the Richemont group. Considered by watch enthusiasts to be one of the finest traditional watch makers in the world along with Patek Philippe & Co., Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet.It employs around 400 people...
.Ultra-complicated watches
Examples
Examples of complications include:- 24-hour watch
- Automatic watchAutomatic watchAn automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch, whose mainspring is wound automatically by the natural motion of the wearer's arm, providing energy to run the watch, to make it unnecessary to manually wind the watch. A watch which is not self-winding is called a manual watch...
(self-winding watch) - ChronographChronographA chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
for measuring short time periods - Double chronographDouble chronographDouble chronograph is a watch that includes two separate stopwatch mechanisms in order to estimate two separate events of different durations. It is often confused with the flyback chronograph.-Functioning:...
or rattrapante, split-second timing or lap timing - Flyback chronographFlyback chronographA flyback chronograph is a complication watch, which uses a single push of the button for stopping, resetting and restarting the chronograph function of the watch.-Other names:The flyback function has also some other names:* Retour-en-vol * Taylor system...
, can be reset while the timer is running - Date display
- Day of week display
- Second time zone
- Equation of timeEquation of timeThe equation of time is the difference between apparent solar time and mean solar time. At any given instant, this difference will be the same for every observer...
- Display of zone solar timeSolar timeSolar time is a reckoning of the passage of time based on the Sun's position in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time and mean solar time .-Introduction:...
(as opposed to standard timeStandard timeStandard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. Historically, this helped in the process of weather forecasting and train travel. The concept...
) - Display of true local solar timeSolar timeSolar time is a reckoning of the passage of time based on the Sun's position in the sky. The fundamental unit of solar time is the day. Two types of solar time are apparent solar time and mean solar time .-Introduction:...
- Display of sidereal timeSidereal timeSidereal time is a time-keeping system astronomers use to keep track of the direction to point their telescopes to view a given star in the night sky...
- Display of time zoneTime zoneA time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
s (for the world traveler) - Time of sunset
- Time of sunrise
- Easter date calculators
- Quarter repeater
- Five-minute repeater
- Minute repeaterMinute repeaterA repeater is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock that audibly chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button. There are many types of repeater, from the simple repeater which merely strikes the number of hours, to the minute repeater which chimes the time down to the...
- Passing strike (chiming watch)
- Alarm
- Month display
- Sign of the ZodiacZodiacIn astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
- Display of leap yearLeap yearA leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...
cycle (year 1 to 4) - Moon phases
- Mechanised star chartStar chartA star chart is a map of the night sky. Astronomers divide these into grids to use them more easily. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars, constellations and galaxies. They have been used for human navigation since time immemorial...
- AstrolabeAstrolabeAn astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
dial - Perpetual calendarPerpetual calendarA perpetual calendar is a calendar which is good for a span of many years, such as the Runic calendar.- General information :...
- Annual calendarAnnual calendarAnnual calendar is the feature that refers to a mechanical watch. It automatically adjusts months with 30 or 31 days and needs to be manually corrected when February turns into March...
- Power reservePower reservePower Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...
or réserve de marche - Quickset date
- Week of year
- Dead second
- Foudroyante (Flying Seconds)
- TourbillonTourbillonIn horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement. Developed around 1795 by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet from an earlier idea by the English chronometer maker John Arnold a tourbillon aims to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the...
(considered by some to not be a complication but rather a mechanical refinement) - Time signalTime signalA time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.-Audible and visible time signals:...
processor
Nonhorological complications
Sometimes various displays in or on a watch are counted as complications even if they have nothing to do with timetelling. Often-seen examples include thermometerThermometer
Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...
, barometer
Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
(rare in watches; more frequent in clocks), compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
, or altimeter
Altimeter
An altimeter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth underwater.-Pressure altimeter:...
. Many horologists will not count nonhorological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, and some purists even exclude the power reserve
Power reserve
Power Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...
from the complications count because it does not show a time indication (although its function is related to timekeeping).
Grand complications
A grand complication is a watch with several complications, the most complex achievements of haute horlogerie, or fine watchmaking. Although there is no 'official' definition,one common definition is a watch that contains at least three complications, with at least one coming from each of the groups listed below:
| Timing complications | Astronomical complications | Striking complications |
|---|---|---|
| Simple chronograph | Simple calendar | Alarm |
| Counter chronograph | Perpetual calendar | Quarter repeater |
| Split-second flyback chronograph | Moon phases | Half-quarter repeater |
| Independent second-hand chronograph | Equation of time | Five-minute repeater |
| Jumping second-hand chronograph | Minute repeater | |
| Passing strike |
The most complicated pocket watch movements
According to watch manufacturer Patek Philippe, the three most complicated watches in the world are all pocket watches made by that company.- The Patek Philippe Calibre 89Calibre 89The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 is a commemorative pocket watch created in 1989, to celebrate the company's 150th anniversary. Declared by Patek Philippe as "the most complicated watch in the world", it weighs 1.1 kg, exhibits 24 hands and has 1,728 components in total, including a thermometer and a...
has 33 complications, using a total of 1728 parts. It was released in 1989 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the company.Watches - Switzerland - Information - swissworld.org, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, General Secretariat, Presence Switzerland. The complications include the date of EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, sidereal time, and a 2800-star celestial chart. - The Super-complication built for Henry Graves, Jr. in 1933 has 24 complications. The watch was reportedly the culmination of a watch arms race between Graves and James Ward PackardJames Ward PackardJames Ward Packard was an American automobile manufacturer who founded the Packard Motor Car Company and Packard Electric Company with his brother William Doud Packard.-Life and career:...
. The Super-complication took three years to design and five to build, and sports a chart of the nighttime sky at Graves' home in New York. This was the world's most expensive watch when it was auctioned off for USD $11-million in 1999, it now ranks second.http://most-expensive.net/watches - The Star Caliber 2000 has 21 complications. They include sunrise and sunset times and the lunar orbit, and it is capable of playing the melody of Westminster quarters (from the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London).
The most complicated wristwatch movement
The Hybris Mechanica Grande Sonnerie is the world's second most complicated wristwatch. Powered by the Jaeger LeCoultre Calibre 182 movement, with 27 complications and over 1300 parts. The movement is housed in a 44mm by 15mm 18k white gold case. http://professionalwatches.com/2009/06/jaeger-lecoultre_hybris_mechan.html#moreThe Franck Muller Aeternitas Mega 4 is the world's most complicated wristwatch. It has 36 complications, 25 of them visible, 1483 components and 1000-year calendar. http://professionalwatches.com/2010/01/worlds_most_complicated_wristw.html