Most complicated watch ever

Or it seems Apple News users.
https://www.vacheron-constantin.com...p/cabinotiers/berkley-grand-complication.html

Pretty crazy pocket watch. Another feat of human engineering.

Article below if you don't want to click on links.

https://archive.ph/m1r8E



In horology a “complication” is an additional function on a watch beyond timekeeping. The more complicated the watch, the more impressive the skill of the artisans and engineers who created it.

With 63 separate complications, Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers Berkley Grand Complication, announced on April 9, is the most complicated watch on Earth, representing 11 years of development. Commissioned by the insurance billionaire William Berkley, it’s made from 2,877 components and weighs more than 2 pounds. Its price is undisclosed, though surely it’s in the millions.

Much of the front face is written in Chinese characters, at Berkley’s request. In the above left image, an indicator on the left subdial shows the Chinese calendar’s celestial stems. The earthly branches appear on the subdial opposite.

Seven separate complications were created for a Gregorian perpetual calendar, as seen in the middle subdials on the above right image. The indicators, including day of the week and month, as well as leap-year cycle and 52-week calendar (right subdial), are scattered about.

In what Vacheron Constantin says is a historical first, the watch comes with a traditional Chinese perpetual calendar. It’s a particular challenge for many reasons, but the biggest is because Chinese months begin on the day of the new moon, meaning its year doesn’t always have 365 days. The watch will nonetheless follow the irregularities of this system until 2200.

Yet another part of the Chinese calendar display is this outer ring that charts the 24 solar periods of the agricultural year. The watch also follows the month lengths, seasons, solstices and equinoxes.

A moon phase indicator inside the hour ring sits above the animal sign in the Chinese zodiac.

Near the tourbillon on the back side is a feature that tells what time the sun rises and how many hours of daylight there will be.

A sky chart shows the constellations as they appear in real time, based on the sky in Shanghai.

An alarm can be activated to play a chime tuned to the bells of London’s Big Ben—four bars of four notes at different frequencies, with a fifth note for the hours.

Two pounds?!! 😲 He's going to need a reinforced pocket.

That’s what the servants are for.

Tour de force, of course, but one of those watches which will never be wound and kept up to date, instead it will be put in a vault for a couple of decades and then will makes its way to auction.

It is a bit easier to tell the time when you’re looking at the front of the piece.




However, flipping it over is where things get a bit complicated 😁.

This reminds me of a guy on TZ about 20 years ago, who would pop into any thread that claimed to show the watch with the most complications, and say that it was wrong, and that he owns the watch with the most complications. Can't recall the company his watch was made by (not one of the big three from what I recall), but he was very adamant and angry if anyone disagreed or questioned it. He threatened lawsuits, etc. for any brand that dared to claim a watch they made was more complicated than his - I wonder if he'll be all over this one too.

Bought a watch once that had more complications…..


Using Mrs Standy’s EBay account for a watch that was mixed in with other stuff….The seller was a twit who had never shipped anything overseas before or used any type of monetary organisation than his boss paying him cash each week. Then shipping saw the watch go to more countries than the Olympic flame, was packed in a simple bubble pack envelope and postman left it in the unattended post box in the rain.

I recently got this booklet from the 99cent auctions.
One of these ultra complications was in the back room of a museum in Besconson[sp] which I think was in France.

Such things are probably mostly put into coffee table books.

The other thing they are good for is collateral to borrow money against.

I asked why it was not on display, the remark was after the theft of the David Solomon's collection in Israel, such catalogs make for shopping lists.

Does make one want to watch Topkopi again.