« Small, Grand and Other Complications – What Automatic Watches Can Do »
In horology, complications are elaborate additional functions in mechanical watches that go beyond the standard display of time in hours, minutes and seconds. A distinction is made between so-called small and grand complications. The latter in particular are extremely complex and are crafted by the hands of skilled masters.
Grand and Small Complications
The basic function of every watch is to tell the time. Any additional function beyond that is called a complication. The complexity of these functions spans a wide range. It can be the date or day-of-the-week display, a second time zone, the moon phase, a rotating bezel or the power reserve indicator used in automatic watches. All of these are small complications, which remain very widespread and appear in many models. Then there are the grand complications, which are considerably more difficult to make and are therefore found in far fewer timepieces. These include the perpetual calendar, the minute repeater and the tourbillon. They are, in a sense, the pinnacle of haute horlogerie and, built by purely mechanical means, masterful feats of engineering. For these rare masterpieces, the most gifted watchmakers in the manufactures assemble every single part of the intricate movement, piece by piece, component by component – creating a true work of art.
What grand complications are capable of is well illustrated by the perpetual calendar, which is very popular. It allows a mechanical watch to display the day, the date, the month, sometimes the year as well, and the moon phase – in some cases without requiring a single correction until the year 2100. Yet our calendar has a whole series of exceptions that this complication has to account for. With its fine gears, springs and spirals, the movement advances the months and takes into account not only their different lengths of 28, 30 and 31 days, but even February 29, which is added every four years in a leap year.
The Repeater as the Summit of Watchmaking
The repeater is one of the most complicated functions that can be built into a wristwatch. It makes the movement chime at intervals when activated by a slide or pusher on the case. Depending on the mechanism, the hours and also the quarter hours can be sounded audibly. There are even automatic versions with a repeater that strikes five-minute intervals or individual minutes. The latter in particular is a creation whose complexity makes it one of the highest disciplines in watchmaking. The hours are sounded by a low tone, the minutes by a high tone. The quarter hours are indicated by two successive tone sequences. This mechanism consists of more than 100 individual parts, which must be integrated into the timepiece with the utmost delicacy. Years of experience are required to take on this task, and even then it easily occupies experts for 200 to 300 hours.
Other Complications
As mentioned above, the grand and highly elaborate complications also include the tourbillon developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet, which has been regarded as a masterpiece of watchmaking for more than 200 years. Here, the balance wheel is mounted in a small cage that rotates on its own axis. Originally invented for pocket watches to reduce the effect of gravity on them and improve their accuracy, this effect is barely measurable in wristwatches, since they are constantly moving with the wearer's arm. As a stylish accessory within an accessory, however, the construction remains highly popular.
Often simply described as just another type of watch, the chronograph is in fact a complication by virtue of its functions. It contains a mechanical stopwatch that lets the wearer measure an elapsed period of time precisely. Modern versions are distinguished by the highest precision. For example, Tag Heuer developed a chronograph as the official timekeeper for the Indy 500 race that can measure time to a thousandth of a second.
When it comes to accuracy, the seconde foudroyante also delivers precise performance. Also known as the flying or jumping fractional seconds, it displays fractions of a second on an additional subdial. Modern versions can achieve an accuracy of one-eighth of a second. This extremely rare specialty is being built again today by Jaquet SA for Graham.
Finally, let's look at the rattrapante: the name of this complication comes from French – "rattraper" means to catch up or to recapture. The rattrapante is a second seconds hand, also called a split-seconds hand, which runs in sync with the chronograph seconds hand but can be stopped separately. Patek Philippe brought the first watches with a rattrapante to market as early as 1922.
Of Watchmakers and Cadraturists
The name for these additional functions in mechanical watches came about because Switzerland's finest watchmakers had settled around Lake Geneva, where French was the common language. Translated, complication simply meant "difficulty." When mechanical or automatic watches were fitted not just with one but with several complications, they were called a Grande Complication, which today forms a master class of its own. The mainspring first drives the actual timekeeping mechanism, the gear train, so that the hours, minutes and seconds can be displayed. Any further mechanisms driven by the mainspring are called complications. They are also known as cadratures, and there is even a dedicated profession for making them. Together with the watchmaker, the cadraturist builds the additional functions. The largest number of complex additions to date is found in Patek Philippe's Calibre 89: it contains a total of 33 different complications, making it one of the most expensive watches. One such Grande Complication model fetched 6.6 million Swiss francs at auction in 2004.
Complications in the Breitling Chronomat 44
Everyone knows that watches are meant to tell the time. Yet skilled and creative watchmakers have always set out to develop ever more elaborate additional functions, and the great manufactures offer a wide variety of extras. Breitling, for example, developed the Chronomat 44, a wristwatch with a dual time zone system that serves as an easy-to-use chronograph for frequent travelers and pilots. At a glance, you can read both your home time and the current local time. The 24-hour scale on the bezel even lets you clearly tell day from night. To set the time zones, you simply pull out the crown so it can be turned either forward or backward. This adjustment does not affect the precise minutes. The date display automatically switches to the local date. The Breitling Chronomat 44 also offers further complications: like any chronograph, it can also time events. The stopped times are exceptionally easy to read on the silver-toned subdials, set against the black main dial. Like many other automatic watches from Breitling, the model is certified and thus carries proof of its extremely high accuracy.
Complications Are for Connoisseurs
Many complications certainly still serve a practical purpose, such as the date display and stopwatch functions. But even though other functions such as the tourbillon can no longer demonstrate their practical benefit as they once did, they still bear witness to the masterful expertise of the great watchmakers and continue to delight lovers of fine watches with their delicate craftsmanship and the tremendous achievement behind every complication.
