Watch Complications, Explained

In the field of horology (the study of watchmaking), a complication is any function on a watch that does more than tell time. From simple date displays to tachymeters to moon phases, complications contain dozens and dozens of moving parts and can sometimes take years to create. They perform and display special functions to enhance or simplify the wearer’s life. In some cases, complications even have life-saving capabilities, such as monitoring oxygen levels during deep sea diving.

Complications are what take a watch from a casual accessory to a sophisticated timepiece and a true marvel of engineering. Read on to learn about a few different watch complications you may see on fine timepieces in the Eiseman Jewels collection.

Retrograde

A retrograde is a complex movement complication in which the measurement (the day of the week, the date, the month, etc.) is shown in a semi-circle or arc pattern instead of a full circle. Rather than rotating a full 360 degrees, as it would in a traditional watch, the indicator hand bounces or jumps back to the beginning when it has finished the sequence.

Perpetual Calendar

The perpetual calendar is the most complex type of calendar feature that exists in horology, making it rare and highly valuable. It’s also one of the most useful complications — it can account for all 30 and 31-day months, as well as February 28 or 29 during a leap year. It displays the day of the month and the day of the week, and it only needs to be adjusted once a century. (Yes, once a century!)

If kept wound, a watch with a perpetual calendar will not require any adjustments until the year 2100 at the earliest — leap years are skipped at the turn of a century, so the normal mechanical calculations require a nudge forward at the end of February.

Minute Repeater

A minute repeater is a function that causes the watch to chime out the time. It operates on demand when the wearer wants to check the time, in which case he or she activates it manually. Inside the watch, small hammers within the movement strike gongs to create sound to represent time. Minute repeaters generally use three different notes to audibly tell time: the first note counts out the hours, the second note counts the quarter hours and the last note counts the minutes. The minute repeater’s beauty and complexity is a marvel you must see and hear for yourself.

For a closer look at some of our exquisite timepieces or to speak to an expert about a particular watch or complication, visit Eiseman Jewels at NorthPark Center in Dallas.

This entry was posted in Blog and tagged complication, Dallas, Dallas Jeweler, DFW, Eiseman, Eiseman Collection, Eiseman Jewelry, Eiseman Jewels, Eiseman Jewels Blog, horology, IWC Watches, Louis Moinet, minute repeater, perpetual calendar, retrograde, ROLEX, timepiece, timepieces, ulysse nardin, watch, watch complication, watch complications, watches, watchmaking on July 30, 2018.

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Eiseman Jewels is the premier Dallas jeweler located in NorthPark Center. Family-owned jeweler in Dallas featuring jewelry and watches from luxury designers, plus repairs. The name Eiseman Jewels has always been synonymous with outstanding customer service and unprecedented style, quality and value. Named the finest independent jewelry store in the nation 2010 by National Jeweler, Eiseman Jewels has long been regarded as the Southwest's premier jeweler for...