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 When
one speaks of a watchmakers’ watch, it refers to a timepiece
that caters to the connoisseurs. These watches epitomise all the
qualities that define excellence in timekeeping. The mechanisms
in these watches are unique to each brand. The features of these
timepieces also make them high-tech specialties. These features
include the perpetual calendar, the tourbillon, the minute repeater,
the chronograph and the retrograde.
A never-ending journey
The perpetual calendar is a mechanism that automatically takes
into account the varying number of days in each month as well as
the leap years. Many watches also possess a moon-phase function
that indicates the waxing and waning of the moon. Most perpetual
calendars are based on the Gregorian calendar, which requires no
correction for more than a century.
 The
centre of attraction
The tourbillon reduces the debilitating effects of gravity
on watches. The delicate balance wheel and its related components
are mounted in a lightweight carriage, which rotates on its own
axis. This mechanism ultimately cancels the negative effects of
gravity. Due to the delicacy of the construction and the amount
of care involved in the production of a tourbillon, it remains a
specialty of the most-gifted watchmakers.
Music to your ears
A minute repeater is a watch, which tells the time audibly.
Developed before the advent of electric power, it has a mechanism
that uses different sound sequences to perform this function.
 An
eye on time
A chronograph can measure independent time intervals. It is
essentially a stopwatch within a watch. A chronograph has a mechanism
that allows it to measure varying intervals of time. This is indicated
on the sub-dials of the original dial. Typically, a chronograph
has three sub-dials, which point out the current time and the time
elapsed.
A visual treat
Displays involve the hand’s (such as a minute’s hand)
complete 360 degree revolution. A retrograde display completes a
180 degree journey before flying back to begin its travel once more.
Anything from simple seconds to perpetual calendars can be displayed
in a retrograde format.There are a few brands that have successfully
encapsulated the concept of a watchmakers’ timepiece. Here’s
taking a look at them in alphabetical order.
 Audemars
Piguet (AP)
Audemars Piguet’s collection of timekeepers include complications
that are like sub-brands within the brand. The models that possess
the complications are named after the movements that are unique
to them. The dynamograph line of watches from AP was able to audibly
tell time. The Metropolis model was the first to include both a
perpetual calendar and universal time. It also displays time in
all 24 time zones. The Star Wheel watch has a large centrally-positioned
wheel. It contains three thin transparent sapphire discs that rotate
in turn. These are affixed to eight toothed star wheels, each of
which is controlled by a jumper spring secured to the centre of
the bearing wheel. Each of the three rotating discs is inscribed
with four hour figures and features a small triangular pointer.
This pointer indicates the elapsed minutes on a dial graduating
from zero to 59. In developing the moon-phase function, the brand
faced various challenges. The indication of the same required a
wheel with 29.5 teeth corresponding to a lunar month. The method
of multiplication was applied — two facing moons driven by
a 59-teeth wheel were used to solve this problem. The disc effects
a complete rotation over 59 days (two full lunar months). It also
displays the current moon-phase in a window on the dial. Some of
their other models were created without an hour hand. These came
with the jumping hours feature, an aperture to an hourly-rotating
disc.
Breguet
Building a grande complication can be a daunting task for watchmakers
with a maze of technical difficulties that challenge not only their
skills but also their powers of invention. Thinking and working
in different dimensions, generations of Breguet watchmakers have
demonstrated the summit of their art in repeaters, perpetual calendars
and tourbillon timepieces. The Classique Grande Complication watches
have several noteworthy aspects. The perpetual calendars featured
in this range have details like the phases and age of the moon and
time (including leap year variations). This series of timepieces
offer a power reserve of up to five days, small second’s hand
on the tourbillon shaft, a compensating balance spring along with
Breguet overcoil. One of the most important and patented mechanisms
by Breguet is the perpetual indication of the equation of time.
This range also has provisions for date reading in a second language.
Breitling
Breitling has quite a few models with unique complications.
The Mulliner Tourbillon has a sophisticated mechanism with one of
the most ingenuous mechanical watch complications. The balance,
balance spring and escapement are contained within a carriage that
spins on its axis. This composition offsets the variations in rate
that occur when a watch is in its vertical position. Another interesting
element is the minute repeater with its second’s hand. For
extra precision in timekeeping, the second’s hand completes
a round of the dial in 30 seconds and the minute’s hand advances
every half a minute. Another prodigy of mechanical horology is the
the Mulliner Perpetual’s grande complication movement. This
chronograph is programmed to indicate the date, day, week, month,
season and moon phases while taking into account the leap-year-variations.
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