COMMON COMPLICATIONS

SOME BASIC WATCH FEATURES OR COMPLICATIONS ARE:

1 JUMPING HOUR is when the hour hand jumps from one hour marker to another, instead of sweeping around the dial. Similarly, there are jumping minutes and jumping seconds.

2 DATE COMPLICATION may take the form of a simple date window, a day-date display or complications such as an annual calendar or even a perpetual calendar.

3 CHRONOGRAPH is essentially a stopwatch on a wristwatch. A flyback chronograph enables a single press to reset and immediately restart a lap. A

rattrapante or split-second chronograph can time two different laps at once.

4 DUAL TIME ZONE has two different time zones shown on a dial. This is especially useful for those who often travel and need to be aware of local time as well as the time back home.

5 ASTRONOMICAL

complications vary from the moon phase, which shows the moon cycle, to an equation of time, which tracks solar time, to a planetarium model, which keeps track of planetary movement.

6 REPEATER is a chiming mechanism that audibly tells the time whenever a pusher is pressed. It is one of the oldest complications.

7 TOURBILLON (see the watch 101 section in the previous page) can now appear in even more complex forms, including double- and triple-axis tourbillons, the flying tourbillon as well as brand-specific innovations.