Complications
Despite the name, complications in horology are not something to be avoided but something to be sought after. The word refers to complicated as the opposite of "basic". In more modern terms a complication is an "advanced feature".The word refers to any feature of a mechanical timepiece above the basic indication of hours, minutes and seconds. Both clocks and watches can have complications, however nowadays there is more interest in mechanical watches than clocks. Somewhat confusingly the term "complication" can refer both to the feature itself and to the timepiece that contains it.
Complications require additional engineering and skill, especially when space is at a premium such as in a watch. For this reason watches with multiple complications can be very expensive to make and buy. They are also extremely popular with those who can afford them; and with those like who who wish we could afford them!
Some well-known complications include:
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Grand Complication
Sometimes a watch will be descibe as a "grand complication". This refers to a timepiece that has more than one complication. There appears to be no hard and fast definition of the term "grand complication", different manufacturers, stores and collectors use it in different ways. However as a rule of thumb most grand complications tend to have at least three complications.One of the most wonderfully complex watches ever made was the Patek Philippe Calibre 89 which has over 30 complications. It is understandably known as the "ultimate watch".
In these days of the quartz watch many mechanical
complications can be reproduced simply by a little
extra circuitry. But where's the soul in that?