What do watch complications say about the owner of the watch?

Wrist Watch

Revelation time: Many people choose watches with complications (even if it's just a chronograph) just because they make a big impression and instantly attract attention. However, for real connoisseurs and collectors, the functionality of the watch is of decisive importance! Therefore, we propose to speculate on the example of the most popular complications, how the functionality of a watch characterizes its owner!

Tourbillon

First of all, let us recall that the beautiful French word tourbillon means "whirlwind". It was introduced into watchmaking by the great master of the early XNUMXth century, Abraham-Louis Breguet. The essence of the invention boils down to the fact that the main organ of the clock mechanism that regulates its movement - the escapement with balance and spiral - is placed in a carriage (sometimes also called a cage), rotating around its axis. Most often, this carriage is given a period of rotation - one revolution per minute. As a result of rotation, according to the author's intention, the influence of gravity on the course of the watch is reduced to a minimum: after all, it acts on the mechanism either “from head to feet”, or, conversely, “from feet to head”.

The tourbillon is relevant for watches, the position of which in space is unchanged - interior watches, as well as pocket watches, which in Breguet's time were customary to wear in a special pocket of a frock coat. Wristwatches appeared about a hundred years later, for which the tourbillon is practically useless, since the wrist changes its orientation every now and then. However, it's beautiful! Due to its technical beauty, the tourbillon is more than alive today, and, as a rule, they try not to hide it from the eyes - a special window is provided in the dial. Very often, the second hand is “planted” on the tourbillon cage.

It is clear that you have to pay for beauty and sophistication. Such watches are the elite, and the elite cannot be cheap. So, if a person has a watch with a tourbillon on his hand, then, firstly, he is far from poor, and secondly, most likely, he is well versed in watchmaking. In addition, he is probably a big admirer of technology and original developments.

Chronograph

An invention of the same period as the tourbillon, made independently by Nicolas Riossec and Louis Moinet. This watch is called a chronograph. (or such a function of them), which not only show the current time, but are also able to measure its individual segments. It is convenient, for example, when training in some kind of cyclic sport - running, swimming, auto racing, horse racing, etc. In everyday life, the chronograph function is in demand, to put it mildly, not very much. But the dial with additional hour and minute counters, as well as with a central stopwatch hand, looks impressive! And it gives out in the owner of such a watch a person who is athletic and knows the value of time.

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The most “advanced” chronographs are also distinguished by the fact that their central hand measures not even seconds, but their fractions. Example: the 2021 GPHG Chronograph winner, the Zenith Chronomaster Sport, which counts tenths of a second with a central hand (the seconds as such are shown by the counter at 3 o'clock, and the seconds of the current time at 9). Zenith DEFY 21 chronographs measure even hundredths of a second, and the accuracy of the TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrogirder 10000 model has reached a fantastic 5/10 seconds - and this is on pure mechanics!

And again the question of price. The said Geneva winner, the Zenith Chronomaster Sport, costs about 10 Swiss francs. Whereas, for example, the Timex Weekender chronograph is approximately the same, but in rubles, and the measurement discreteness is even more frequent - up to 1/20 of a second. The question remains - why? Let's repeat: in order to emphasize the sports image, indicate the type of activity and, most importantly, gain absolute control over time.

Additional time zone, world time

Now this function is already more practical, especially for people who travel a lot around the world by occupation or by the call of their hearts. And not only in reality, but also virtually. Take, for example, stock traders and analysts: let's say it's 3 am in Moscow, but how much is left before the opening of trading in Hong Kong or Tokyo? World time is especially useful here: marking the dial with the names of cities corresponding to the time zones of the planet helps to navigate instantly. As for real travels, it can be important, when you are, say, on business in Paris, to know what time it is in Beijing now - so as not to call home at an odd hour or somehow get into a mess.

It is curious that about the special value world time functions people like Formula 1 pilots speak with one voice. For example, Pierre Gasly, who represents the AlphaTauri "stable", notes that this is one of the key functions of Casio Edifice watches (the brand is the official timekeeper of the team). “After all,” the pilot explains, “we travel so much, and this feature makes it easy and quick to set the time depending on where you are. It is also very useful to set two different times on the clock. I usually save the time of the country where I am now and the time of the country where I live.”

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Note: Casio Edifice EQB-1100AT watch (here AT stands for AlphaTauri) costs about 50 thousand rubles. But the only model with world time from all those nominated for GPHG-2021, Bulgari Octo Roma Worldtimer, is more expensive - more than 8 thousand Swiss francs.

So the presence of world time on the wrist will not say anything about the wealth of the owner of the watch, but it will confirm that you are a traveler who deals with frequent travel and flights.

Calendars

Also a useful complication. Of course, not to say that it is mandatory ... But it's nice to be able to remind yourself what day, month, year it is with one glance at the dial. In this sense, the most "friendly" perpetual calendars: it is enough to set them up once, after which you can forget about installation for several decades. The annual calendar is somewhat simpler, the so-called full calendar is even simpler - in it you have to manually translate the date whenever there are less than 31 days in a month. But in any case, a watch with a calendar speaks of the owner as a person, apparently, extremely busy and at the same time appreciating reasonable comfort.

But that's not all! The fact is that very often the calendar includes moon phase function. Here she has a practical value is just minimal - but how romantic it is! Hence the conclusion: the owner of such a watch is prone to lyrics and high feelings, and is also not indifferent to art!
At GPHG-2021, the main award - the Golden Arrow - was won by the perpetual calendar Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar (by the way, the thinnest in the world in its category - 5,8 mm), worth under 60 thousand Swiss francs. It doesn't have moon phases, but some of the other nominees do. For example, the IWC Big Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun Edition “Mojave Desert” (CHF 35).
The price tag of Seiko perpetual calendars from the CD Dress family looks the same (plus or minus). They do not have moon phases, but they also have chronograph and alarm functions.

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A person with such a thing on his wrist is definitely experienced in watchmaking and practical: very high quality for affordable money is his credo. Well, nature, not devoid of poetry and exquisite taste, can choose, for example, the Cuervo Y Sobrinos Luna Negra model, with a full calendar (date, day of the week, month) and, of course, an indicator of lunar phases. Significantly more expensive, but you can immediately see a person full of not only pragmatism, but also high spirituality.

Smart Watches

It is not worth talking about them for a long time. Synchronized with a smartphone, requiring neither factory nor replacement of the power source (because it is solar-powered), almost absolutely accurate (due to automatic adjustment), chock-full of all sorts of functions - sports, medical, educational, entertainment, payment, etc. etc., such wrist gadgets testify, first of all, that their owner is a maximalist and a perfectionist who is used to taking everything from life and not settling for less.

three arrows

Let's finish our reasoning with the most (almost) simplest of watch sets. It would seem even boring - three hands and maybe a date, nothing more. However, judging by this, you can be deceived. By way of illustration, let’s recall the iconic Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 three-hand watch. The iconic blue dial model has been discontinued, but replaced by a version with an olive green dial, and at the end of 2021, a sensation thundered: the model with a dial was released (only 170 pieces) iconic Tiffany Blue. And at an auction in New York, she won - attention! - 6,503,000 dollars. Perhaps comments are unnecessary ...

If we talk not about such an exclusive, but about more or less ordinary three-handers, then all their owners give the impression of people being serious, reserved and, perhaps, somewhat conservative (in a good way). On the one hand - why the frills, on the other hand - we still look at the time not only on a smartphone, but on a classic dial.

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