Achieving the ultimate in complicated watchmaking is an exercise reserved for a select few. They scrutinize and assess each other, vying for the favor of a small circle of collectors. Extremely wealthy and knowledge-able, such connoisseurs are the clients for ultra-complicated watches. Fought with patents, this battle of pride determines who gains a place in watchmaking's hall of fame. Such models are proof of comprehensive mastery of the techniques involved in this craft, but also of determination - the kind that never gives up on these extremely complex, time-consuming, costly and not necessarily very profitable projects.
Simplicity
To join this exclusive club, the recipe is simple... on paper. All you need to do is combine a tourbillon, a chiming function, a perpetual calendar, various astronomical indications and a few refined touches in a single watch. It could be a chronograph, an alarm, a variation on the chiming theme; that little something extra that will be the model's unique signature. These structures rely on the interaction of more than 1,000 components within a few cubic cen-timeters... because the object also has to be wearable on the wrist. The latter result is definitely relative, as this field requires being prepared to accept substantial diameters and thicknesses.
Ancestors
The competition is currently in its fourth major wave. The first saw the birth of timepieces such as the Henry Graves and the Calibre 89 by Patek Philippe. Spanning more than a century, it constitutes the prehistory of the specialty and focused solely on pocket watches. A few wristwatches then appeared, following the example of the Blancpain 1735, a pioneer of the genre in 1991. Then, in the early 2010s, Franck Muller created the Aeternitas Mega IV, closely followed by Jaeger-LeCoultre's first Hybris Mechanica. It wasn't until 2014 that a truly extraordinary piece emerged, changing the scale of grand complications: the Grandmaster Chime by Patek Philippe. Reversible, automatic and equipped with an incredible date repeater, it made the grande sonnerie almost indispensable to any superlative timepiece.
Renaissance
Then, within the short space of the last two years, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Blancpain have all introduced horological monsters. Rather than listing their complications in paragraphs, it is interesting to highlight what sets them apart. Vach-eron Constantin's Solaria Ultra Grand Complication combines 17 astronomical indications, including five that are completely new. Blancpain's Grande Double Sonnerie strikes the time on four gongs in two sequences, producing two different melodies. Audemars Piguet's Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle achieves the equally impressive feat of housing 40 functions within a mere 42mm. These wristwatches combine an incredible number of components, complexity and effort, naturally carrying price tags of up to five million Swiss francs.
Grand finale
This festival is in fact the closing act of a period of pros-perity, desirability and expansion such as watchmaking had never previously experienced. The stars were perfectly aligned: highly motivated brands, eager customers, an explosion in the wealth of the richest 0.01%, technological progress and a keenly competitive spirit. A golden age whose exemplary achievements will go down in history.
