Complication (horology)

In horology the term, complication in a mechanical timepiece is any feature beyond that of a simple hours, minutes, and seconds, otherwise known as a simple movement.

Overview

In horology term, complication in a mechanical timepiece is any feature beyond that of a simple hours, minutes, and seconds.

A simple movement

A timepiece indicating 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 count as a complication.

complicated movements

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.

Complications identified

Examples of complications include:

24 hour watch Automatic watch (self-winding watch) Chronograph for measuring short time periods Double chronograph or rattrapante, split seconds timing or lap timing Flyback chronograph, can be reset while the timer is running Date display Day of week display Second time zone Equation of time Display of zone solar time (as opposed to Mean Time) Display of true local solar time Display of Sideral Time Time of Sunset Time of Sunrise Easter Date calculators

Quarter repeater Five-minute repeater Minute repeater Passing strike (chiming watch) Alarm Month display Sign of the Zodiac Display of Leap Year cycle (year 1 to 4) Moon phases Mechanised star chart Astrolabe dial Perpetual calendar Annual calendar Power reserve or réserve de marche Quickset date Tourbillon Week of year

Non-horological 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 thermometer, barometer(rare in watches, more frequently in clocks)), compass, altimeter. Many horologists will NOT count non-horological complications when adding up the number of complications on a given watch or clock, 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 the timekeeping).

Grand Complication defined

A grand complication is a watch that contains at least three "complications", with at least one coming from each of the groups listed below:

Visual Indicators	Astronomical indicators	Acoustic indicators
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	n/a	Minute repeater
n/a	n/a	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 Caliber 89 has 33 complications using a total of 1728 parts. It was released in 1989 to commemorate the 150 anniversary of the company. The complications include the date of Easter, 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 Packard. The Super-complication took three years to design and five to build, and sports e.g. a chart of the nighttime sky at Graves' home in New York. This is also the world's most expensive watch, auctioned off for USD 11 million in 1999.
• The Star Caliber 2000 has 21 complications. Its complications include sunrise and sunset times and the lunar orbit and it is capable of playing the melody of the Westminster chime (from the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London).

The most complicated wrist watch movements

• The International Watch Company's "Il Destriero Scafusia" ref. 1868 from 1993 is a wrist watch with 21 complications using 750 individual parts. Its perpetual calendar will display the day, date, month, year, leap year and century correctly until year 2499. The moon phase display is the most exact ever made, needing a one-day adjustment in 2115.
• On the occasion of its 250th Anniversary in 2005, Vacheron & Constantin created a commemorative grand complication, the Tour de l’Île with 16 complications read-off of a double-dial recto-verso display. The watch consists of 834 parts. The brand’s watchmakers and design-engineers were involved in research and development for over 10,000 hours. The timepiece requires the period of four to five months to be assembled. Among Tour de l’Île’s complications there are: a second time zone, a sixty-second tourbillon, a moon phase indicator, repetition of the quarters and minutes, a power reserve indicator, sky chart and others. Seven pieces were made.