How to Read a Complication

In watchmaking, a complication is any function a movement performs beyond the hours, minutes and seconds. The more complications, and the more elegantly they are integrated, the greater the horological achievement.

The Chronograph A chronograph is a stopwatch built into the watch. Sub-dials record elapsed minutes and hours while the central seconds hand times an event. Column-wheel chronographs, prized for their crisp action, are the mark of a serious calibre.

The Tourbillon Invented to counter the effect of gravity on the escapement, the tourbillon rotates the balance within a rotating cage. Today it is less about necessity than about the visible mastery of the watchmaker's art.

Reading the Dial Learn to read a watch and you learn to read its maker's intent — where restraint was chosen over ornament, and where a single detail rewards a lifetime of attention.