Watch 101. Watch Complications. A Simplified Guide.
Watches have always been designed to do more than simply tell time. From watches for cave
explorers to those that can be worn in space, they’ve always catered to the activities
of man.
Thus, the watch complication came to be – a function that exists in addition to
telling the time. Here’s a quick guide to each of them.
Let's start with the simplest complication – the date. It displays just that, the day’s
date, typically in the 3 o’clock position. This function has to be manually adjusted
at the end of 30-day months, as well as at the end of February, to reflect the proper
date.
The Day-Date meanwhile, displays the date, as well as the day of the month. It is typically
displayed on an aperture at the 12 o’clock position, with the date still at the 3 o’clock
position. It could be an abbreviated version, or the day can be spelled out completely,
as seen here on the Rolex Day-Date.
Here is one of the most popular complications, the chronograph. A chronograph watch is basically
a stopwatch or timer. It allows the wearer to measure and record periods of time, but
without affecting the time-telling functions of the watch. The basic chronograph has two
“pushers” that are used to start, stop, and reset the time, and chronograph sub-dials
that display the counter. It can be used to track time for various activities such as
cooking times, meetings, parking meters, and more.
Now, we’ll get to watches that tell different times at once. A GMT Watch tells the wearer
two timezones at once using the starting point of international time zones, the Greenwich Mean Time. Typically,
a GMT hand will have the hour-hand that tells time on a 12-hour scale; then another
colored hour-hand (seen here in red) is added to tell the second time, usually on a 24-hour
format on the bezel.
Dual time watches, as the name suggests, display two different times at once. The difference
with GMT, is that it displays time on a 12-hour format. Most commonly, you’ll see the second
time at a subdial at 6 o’clock, showing the time on a 12-hour scale. Just like two
clocks in one watch!
Now this one’s pretty advanced. A World Timer shows the time in all 24 timezones across
the world, at once.
The watch does this through a rotating bezel that shows major cities around the world,
with a corresponding bezel that indicates time on a 24-hour scale. Those who do business
with people in more than one timezone will find this extremely handy!
Let’s move on to calendar complications. An annual calendar, seen here, is like the
date watch, but this time, it also shows the month of the year.
Moreover, it automatically adjusts the date displayed on the watch based on 30- and 31-day
months. However, it still requires setting the date once per year, at the end of February
which has less then 30 days.
Now here’s a perpetual calendar, which requires even less intervention than the annual calendar.
Not only does it adjust for 30- and 31-day months, but will also automatically adjust
for leap years. The next time perpetual calendars have to be adjusted is in year 2100. Impressive
isn’t it?
Now here’s a watch that tells more than the time, and the date. The Moon Phase displays
both, and also tracks the present phase of the moon.
It does so by calculating the lunar cycle of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds.
A moonphase watch has a beautiful rotating disk that indicates whether it is new, full,
half or quarter moon.
A minute repeater audibly chimes the current time on demand, through a series of dings
and dongs, and by activating a push- or slide-piece on the watch. Beautiful isn’t it?
No longer commonly used today, repeaters were created to help the visually-impaired tell
time or to tell time when there was no electricity yet. Today, they are coveted for their ingenious
engineering and beautiful sound.
And finally, we have the tourbillon, which is the most complex, elusive, and most expensive
of all complications.
The tourbillon was created to counter the effects of the Earth’s gravity on the accuracy
of the watch movement. As the watch spends the majority of its time stuck in either a horizontal or
a vertical position, this puts a strain on the watch's escapement, thereby decreasing its accuracy.
The tourbillon, invented by famed watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in the 1700’s, has
an escapement that is housed in a rotating cage and is constantly on the move – thus
averaging out the effect of gravity. Its use is often questioned these days, but it’s
a great show of a watch’s virtuosity and beauty.
See? Watch complications can sometimes be, well, complicated. But used properly, watch complications can definitely simplify your life.