Watches are many things; keepers of time, accessories and status symbols. However, not everyone is familiar with the complications of watches. In fact, most people assume that a watch complication is some sort of malfunction that occurs when a watch isn’t working properly. This, however, is not the case. A watch complication is any function of a watch except for its ability to tell time. This guide is designed to help you understand and recognize watch functions.
Dual-Time Zone Complications
This complication is designed to allow your watch to provide the time in other time zones. Dual time is a complication that shows two different time zones with one movement. GMT is a complication that shows two or more time zones. GMT with an independent hour hand is one in which the hour hand is set independently from the 24-hour hand. A GMT with a fixed hour hand is one created more than 60 years ago by Rolex and considered a pilots watch. It comes with a secondary hour hand that only makes one turn around the circle each day, landing on 12 for midnight and 6 for noon. The World Time Zone is a complication that features an inner bezel that rotates on the inside to show the 24-hour time while the outer one indicates the different cities around the world.
Date Complications
These are the simplest and most common watch complications. Date complications include a date window that shows the date. Typically, this is a small box inside the watch that just shows the number of the date. Others include a date wheel, which features an arrow pointing to the date along the periphery. A subsidiary date is a small dial inside the time that shows a rotation of the date. A date complication with a perpetual calendar will show the date, month and year, including taking leap year into account. An annual calendar complication does not take note of leap year, which means that it needs resetting each year on the 28th or 29th of February, as it will continue going through the 31st otherwise.
Chronograph Complications
This is the type of complication that features a stopwatch built into the watch. There are three kinds. The one button is able to start and stop time when needed. The two button has the ability to measure interrupted times. Flybacks were designed for pilots with a great need for precision. They stop and reset all the clocks when the second button is pushed. Split-second complications have three push buttons and two second hands.
Other Complications
A tachometer complication measures how quickly the person wearing the watch walks. Tourbillon is a rare complication, used typically on very high-end watches. This helps to provide accuracy to watches that might otherwise have timekeeping issues thanks to gravity and position. Moonphase complications show the position of the moon each night. Power reserve complications let a wearer know how much power is left in the watch before the battery requires replacement.
(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
