The 6 True Classic Watch Complications

In t.mes pieces, having a “complicated” watch is a good thing. Generally, any function other than indicating the hours, minutes and seconds on a watch is considered a complication. While multi-t.mes zones, alarms, and other small complications are becoming very popular today, there are a handful of traditional watchmaking complications considered to be the “true classic complications” by the greater watch collects ing community. Here, we take a look at these top six true watch complications that collects ors are clamoring for.

1. Acoustical Watches

Just as their name suggests, acoustical watches are those that chime the t.mes via a series of hammers and gongs. Some offer the chiming on demand, such as the minute repeater, five-minute repeater, decimal (or 10-minute repeater), quarter repeater. Others, such as grand and petite sonneries, strike the t.mes on the hour and typically have a “silent” button.

2. Chronographs

Chronographs are essentially stopwatches. Simple chronographs that can start, stop, and reset via the pushers and flyback chronographs that offer a rapid reset feature, and split-second (Rattrapante) chronographs to simultaneously t.mes multiple events are all considered a classic complication. The chronograph enables the measurement of these intervals of t.mes without affecting the hour, minute, and seconds t.mes keeping function.

3. Perpetual Calendars

Perpetual calendars track and display all aspects of t.mes , including day, date, month, and even the Leap Year. Most also offer moon phase indications. They take into account short months and Leap Years. Most remain accurate without needing an adjustment (unless they run out of power) until the year 2100, when we will skip a scheduled Leap Year.

4. Equation of t.mes

The most complex astronomical watches are ones that display the Equation of t.mes . Obviously, all watches track the 24 hours in a day. However, the true solar t.mes of a day varies by as much as 16 minutes longer or 14 minutes shorter than 24 hours. The Equation of t.mes watch tracks the exact solar length of each day and often shows the difference between true solar t.mes and mean solar t.mes (or “clock t.mes ”).

5. Tourbillon

The tourbillon escapement, invented by Louis-Abraham Breguet in the early 1800s, is a constantly whirling device built into a watch to compensate for the errors in t.mes keeping caused by the effects of gravity pulling on a watch is in different positions on the wrist. Essentially, the tourbillon escapement keeps the t.mes keeping as precise as possible.

Today’s watch pundits and experts argue as to whether or not the tourbillon is a true complication. On the one hand, the tourbillon offers an added feature by keeping more accurate t.mes . On the other hand, as today’s watches have become much more accurate in general, some argue it is a superfluous addition to a watch, offering only added complexity and beauty. Today’s tourbillon escapements have become ever more complex with multiple axis tourbillons, double-, triple- and even quadruple-escapements. As such, the Tourbillon remains a classic complication.

6. Ultra-Thin Watches

Again, more of a feat of craftsmanship than an added function, ultra-thin watches are among the most difficult to create and are true works of art. In an ultra-thin watch, all of the watchmaking components are pared down to make a t.mes piece so slim that, in some instances, the watch is the thickness of a half dollar coin. The incredible watchmaking expertise that goes into creating extra-slim movements keeps this realm on the classic complication list.

It should be noted that when a watch brand combines multiple (usually at least three) classic complications from the list above into a single t.mes piece, it becomes a Grand Complication. Learn more about the fascinating world of Grand Complications in our blog post here!