It remains the most complicated watch (920 parts) built without the assistance of computers. 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. The watch was reportedly the culmination of a watch arms race between Graves and James Ward Packard. The Supercomplication delivered to Henry Graves, Jr.The complications include the date of Easter, sidereal time, and a 2800-star celestial chart. It was released in 1989 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the company. The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 has 33 complications, using a total of 1728 parts.The Reference 57260 took eight years to assemble, and has 2826 parts and 31 hands. The company claims that it is the most complicated mechanical pocket watch ever created. It is a mechanical pocket watch which features 57 complications, introduced by Vacheron Constantin in 2015. The Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 is now widely regarded as the most complicated watch in the world.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. 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 ) sold in Geneva on November 11, 2014. As a result, as early as in the 16th century, the horology world witnessed the appearance of numerous complicated and even ultra-complicated watches.Īs of November 2018, the top four most complicated mechanical watches ever created are manufactured by Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe, respectively. The mechanical clocks with a wide range of functions, including astronomical indications, suggested ideas to the developers of the first pocket watches. 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. Some watchmaking companies known for making ultra-complicated watches are Breguet, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin. Ultra-complicated watches are produced in strictly limited numbers, with some built as unique instruments. Although there is no official definition, one common criterion is that a watch contain at least one (visible) timing complication, one astronomical complication, and one striking complication. Examples include:Ī grand(e) complication is a watch with several complications, the most complex achievements of haute horlogerie, or fine watchmaking. Some horologists discount non-horological features (even those tangential to timekeeping such as winding limitations mechanisms or power reserves) as being true complications. Display of time zones (usually, a second hour hand displays the Coordinated Universal Time)īy some definitions, a display on a watch may be a complication even if it is unrelated to time-telling.Display of zone solar time (as opposed to standard time).Equation of time variation within the year.Tourbillon, a mechanical refinement to an escapement that mitigates the effects of gravity on the operation of a timepiece.Self-winding, using the motion of the wrist and arm to recapture energy.24-hour watch (with an hour hand sweeping through 24 divisions rather than twelve).
#Horology definition full#
Foudroyante (or "flying seconds" - a dedicated hand that completes a full rotation in one second indicating fractions of a second).
Retrograde indication (hands sweep through an arc of a circle instead of the full circle, usually 90°, they spring back to 0° when they reach the 90° point and start sweeping again).Flyback chronograph, allowing rapid reset of the chronograph as it is running.Double chronograph or rattrapante, multiple second hands for split-second, lap timing or timing multiple events.Chronograph, with a second hand that can be stopped and started to function as a stopwatch.JSTOR ( October 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "Complication" horology – news Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.
0 kommentar(er)
