Complication (horology)

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Three complications on a Gallet MultiChron Navigator (1943): a crown-controlled synchronizable second hand, a direction-finding 24-hour hand, and a 45-minute recording chronograph Gallet navigator chronograph (cropped).jpg
Three complications on a Gallet MultiChron Navigator (1943): a crown-controlled synchronizable second hand, a direction-finding 24-hour hand, and a 45-minute recording chronograph

In horology, a complication is any feature of a timepiece beyond the display of hours, minutes and seconds. A timepiece indicating only hours, minutes and seconds is known as a simple movement. Common complications include date or day-of-the-week indicators, alarms, chronographs (stopwatches), and automatic winding mechanisms. Complications may be found in any clock, but they are most notable in mechanical watches where the small size makes them difficult to design and assemble. 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.

Contents

Types

Timing

Many of these complications can result in watch defects, often due to watch owners manipulating mechanisms without an instruction manual, or disregarding "no-set-periods", time periods when no setting should be attempted, such as a certain phase before midnight when a watch with a date complication is already in the process of internally shifting discs. [1]

Mechanical

Astronomical

Striking

Non-horological

By some definitions, a display on a watch may be a complication even if it is unrelated to time-telling. Some horologists[ who? ] discount non-horological features (even those tangential to timekeeping such as winding limitations mechanisms or power reserves) as being true complications. Examples include:

Grand(e) complications

The Breguet No. 160 grand complication MarieAntoinetteWatch.jpg
Тhe Breguet No. 160 grand complication

A grand(e) complication is a watch with several complications, the most complex achievements of haute horlogerie, or fine watchmaking. Although there is no official definition, [2] one common criterion is that a watch contain at least one (visible) timing complication, one astronomical complication, and one striking complication. [3]

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. [4] 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.

As of November 2018, the top four most complicated mechanical watches ever created are manufactured by Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe, respectively. [5] [6] [7] In particular, the Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication currently holds the title of the second most expensive watch ever sold at auction, with a final price of US$24 million (23,237,000 CHF [Swiss francs]) sold in Geneva on November 11, 2014. [8] [9] [10] [11] Two Patek Philippe Calibre 89 also currently rank among the top 10 most expensive watches ever sold at auction, with final prices over 5 million US dollars. [12] [13] [14] [15]

  1. The Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 is now widely regarded as the most complicated watch in the world. It is a mechanical pocket watch which features 57 complications, introduced by Vacheron Constantin in 2015. The company claims that it is the most complicated mechanical pocket watch ever created. The Reference 57260 took eight years to assemble, and has 2826 parts and 31 hands. It weighs 957 g (2.11 lb), and spans 98 millimetres (3.9 in).
  2. The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 has 33 complications, using a total of 1728 parts. It was released in 1989 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the company. [16] The complications include the date of Easter, sidereal time, and a 2800-star celestial chart.
  3. The Supercomplication delivered to Henry Graves, Jr. in 1933 has 24 complications. The watch was reportedly the culmination of a watch arms race between Graves and James Ward Packard. 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. It remains the most complicated watch (920 parts) [17] built without the assistance of computers. [18]
  4. 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 Big Ben, the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London).

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. [19]

Blancpain is famous for being the creator of one of the most complicated mechanical watches ever made, the Blancpain 1735, which is a true grand complication (Tourbillon, minute repeater, perpetual calendar, split chrono), a limited edition of 30 pieces only, production of just one piece per year.

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. [20]

Use in smartwatches

Smartwatch with the following complications: Heart rate with sparkline; Moon phase; date; weather; sunrise/sunset. Garmin Instinct 2s.jpg
Smartwatch with the following complications: Heart rate with sparkline; Moon phase; date; weather; sunrise/sunset.

In smartwatches, complications are features other than time display, implemented in software. [21] [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watch</span> Personal timepiece

A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or other type of bracelet, including metal bands, leather straps, or any other kind of bracelet. A pocket watch is designed for a person to carry in a pocket, often attached to a chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pocket watch</span> Watch made to be carried in a pocket

A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patek Philippe</span> Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer

Patek Philippe SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer, located in the Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. Established in 1839, it is named after two of its founders, Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe. Since 1932, the company has been owned by the Stern family in Switzerland and remains the last family-owned independent watch manufacturer in Geneva. Patek Philippe is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted watchmaking history since its founding. It designs and manufactures timepieces as well as movements, including some of the most complicated mechanical watches. The company maintains over 400 retail locations globally and over a dozen distribution centers across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. In 2001, it opened the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronograph</span> Type of watch

A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has an independent sweep second hand and a minute sub-dial; it can be started, stopped, and returned to zero by successive pressure on the stem. More complex chronographs use additional complications and can have multiple sub-dials to measure seconds, minutes, hours and even fractions of a second. In addition, many modern chronographs use moveable bezels as tachymeters for rapid calculations of speed or distance. Louis Moinet invented the chronograph in 1816 for use in tracking astronomical objects. Chronographs were also used heavily in artillery fire in the mid to late 1800s. More modern uses of chronographs involve aircraft piloting, auto racing, diving and submarine maneuvering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vacheron Constantin</span> Swiss watch company

Vacheron Constantin SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded in 1755. Since 1996, it has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group. Vacheron Constantin is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted watchmaking history since its foundation in 1755. It employs around 1,200 people worldwide as of 2018, most of whom are based in the company's manufacturing plants in the Canton of Geneva and Vallée de Joux in Switzerland.

A. Lange & Söhne is a trademark of Lange Uhren GmbH, a German manufacturer of luxury and prestige watches. The company was originally founded by Ferdinand Adolph Lange in Glashütte, Kingdom of Saxony in 1845. The original A. Lange & Söhne was nationalized and ceased to exist in 1948, following the occupation by the Soviet Union after World War II. The current A. Lange & Söhne trademark was re-registered when Lange Uhren GmbH was founded in 1990 by Walter Lange, the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audemars Piguet</span> Swiss luxury watchmaker

Audemars Piguet Holding SA is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring the name Audemars Piguet & Cie in 1881. The company has been family-owned since its founding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franck Muller</span> Swiss watchmaker

Franck Muller is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000. Franck Muller's watches are worn by various celebrities, among them Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elton John, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Kanye West, Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, Paris Hilton, and Chris Brown.

The 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" at the time of creation, it has 33 complications, weighs 1.1 kg, exhibits 24 hands and has 1,728 components in total, including a thermometer, and a star chart. Before Calibre 89, Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication had been the world’s most complicated timepiece ever assembled with a total of 24 different functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Graves (banker)</span> American banker (1868–1953)

Henry Graves Jr. (1868–1953) was an American banker descended from John Graves of Concord, Massachusetts.

Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre SA, or simply Jaeger-LeCoultre, is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded by Antoine LeCoultre in 1833 and is based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. Since 2000, the company has been a fully owned subsidiary of the Swiss luxury group Richemont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronometer watch</span> High-precision time piece

A chronometer is an extraordinarily accurate mechanical timepiece, with an original focus on the needs of maritime navigation. In Switzerland, timepieces certified by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) may be marked as Certified Chronometer or Officially Certified Chronometer. Outside Switzerland, equivalent bodies, such as the Japan Chronometer Inspection Institute, have in the past certified timepieces to similar standards, although use of the term has not always been strictly controlled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quartz crisis</span> 1970s–80s watchmaking industry upheaval

The quartz crisis (Swiss) or quartz revolution was the advancement in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world. It caused a significant decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of the world's watch production shifted to Japanese companies such as Seiko, Citizen and Casio which embraced the new electronic technology. The strategy employed by Swiss makers was to call this revolution a 'crisis' thereby downgrading the advancement from Japanese brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallet & Company</span> Swiss timepiece manufacturer

Gallet (ˈgæl.eɪ) is a historic Swiss manufacturer of high-end timepieces for professional, military, sports, racing, and aviation use. Gallet is the world's oldest clock making house with history dating back to Humbertus Gallet, a clock maker who became a citizen of Geneva in 1466. It is one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the World. The Gallet & Cie name was officially registered by Julien Gallet (1806–1849) in 1826, who moved the family business from Geneva to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Prior to this date, operations commenced under the name of each of the Gallet family patriarchs.

Antiquorum is an auctioneer of modern and vintage timepieces. Established in Geneva in 1974, Antiquorum was the first auction house to auction fine watches over the Internet in the 1990s.

The Breguet No. 160"The Grand Complication," more commonly known as the Marie-Antoinette or the Queen, is a case watch designed by Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, and was his 160th watch. It has been called 'a poem in clockwork'. The watch is thought to have been commissioned in 1783 by Swedish count Axel von Fersen the Younger the lover of the French Queen, Marie Antoinette. Work on the watch was begun in 1783 and completed in 1802.

The Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication is one of the most complicated mechanical pocket watches ever created. The 18-karat gold watch has 24 complications and was assembled by Patek Philippe. It was named after banker Henry Graves Jr. who supposedly commissioned it out of his desire to outdo the Grande Complication pocketwatch of American automaker James Ward Packard. The two were both at the top of the watch collecting world, regularly commissioning innovative new timepieces.

The Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 is a single highly complicated mechanical pocket watch displaying the Gregorian, Judaic, and lunar calendars featuring 57 complications. The watch was assembled by Vacheron Constantin and introduced in 2015. The company claims that it is the most complicated mechanical pocket watch ever created, followed up by Patek Philippe Calibre 89 assembled in 1989 and featuring 33 complications. The Reference 57260 took eight years to assemble. The watch has 2,826 parts and 31 hands, weighs 957 grams and spans 98 mm.

Seth Glanville Atwood was an American industrialist, community leader, and horological collector. He was the chairman and president of Atwood Vacuum Machine Company, one of the world's largest manufacturers of automobile body hardware, and a long-time leader of the Atwood family's business which involved in manufacturing, banking and hotel industries, with over 2,500 employees. In addition, Atwood was a director of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, and had served in the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago.

References

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