What if we were at the pinnacle of grand horological complications?

While the automobile aspires to be electric and autonomous, and the smartphone has become an interchangeable object that we replace every two to three years, these extreme watches play the opposite card: that ofa pure mechanism, designed to last, each component of which is designed to amaze, be repaired, adjusted, and passed on. 

Monumental chimes, next-generation perpetual calendars, spectacular split-seconds clocks, and record-breaking thinness are once again taking center stage on the wrist, while Watches & Wonders 2026 is shaping up to be the world's premier stage for these exceptional machines, and will confirm that High-end watchmaking mechanics have never been more relevant than they are today. 

Watchmaking complications: the secret language of high mechanics 

In watchmaking, we call complication any function that goes beyond simply displaying hours, minutes, and seconds.  A date, a second time zone, a power reserve or a simple day/night indicator are already complications, just like a chronograph measuring short times or a poetic moon phase on the dial. 

Between simple complications and major complications: what are the differences?

The line between complications "simple" and major complications remain partly cultural, but certain categories are clearly identified. 

The so-called complications "simple" group these relatively common functions, often mastered industrially and produced in large series. Chronograph, date, moon phase or small seconds are generally considered basic complications, although their execution can reach an extreme level of refinement in haute horlogerie. 

The analogy with the automobile is apt: a simple complication is like a well-designed engine with a few advanced options, while a grand complication is a hypercar, assembled almost entirely by hand, packed with technology and produced in tiny volumes. 

Conversely, grand complications traditionally combine at least three major families These include: a timekeeping function (chronograph, often split-seconds), a perpetual calendar or an advanced calendar complication, and a striking mechanism such as a minute repeater, grande sonnerie, or carillon... To this triad can be added complex astronomical indications (celestial chart, equation of time, solar functions) or a tourbillon, dramatically increasing the number of components and the complexity of assembly. Within a single movement, these include a number of components that frequently exceeds a thousand and development time can be measured in years. 

Wristwatches with over 20 complications and 1000 components – long reserved for a few iconic pocket watches – are now experiencing a true renaissance, giving rise to a new generation of "major complications" Portable devices for everyday use despite their extreme sophistication. This movement reflects a changing era: at a time when pure precision is ensured by quartz and GPS, It is the orchestrated complexity, visible and audible, that becomes the true signature of luxury watchmaking. 

Patek Philippe Ref. 97975: the matrix of the perpetual calendar on the wrist 

While the modern concept of grand complication is flourishing today, it has its roots in a few pioneering watches, including the Patek Philippe Ref. 97975 occupies an almost mythical place. Released in 1925, the watch that houses the 97975 movement is considered the very first perpetual calendar integrated into a wristwatch, a feat then reserved for the pocket watch format. 

This movement, originally developed for a pendant watch and reworked by Patek Philippe, combines a perpetual calendar with an instantaneous display of indications, a technical rarity for the time. Designed to integrate highly complex functions into a very small space, it foreshadows modern grand complications, where The challenge is to optimize every available cubic millimeter without sacrificing reliability or readability. whether we are talking about a minute repeater or another major function. 

The dial of the 97975 also establishes a visual language that will leave a lasting mark on the maison : online day/month display, date by hand and moon phase grouped together, supplemented by practical indications such as the leap year cycle and a day/night indicator to facilitate settings. 

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Solaria: Controlled Extravagance 

Nearly a century after 97975, Vacheron Constantin in turn pushes the boundaries of what a wristwatch can contain, with The Solaria Cabinspresented as the most complex wristwatch ever made by the manufacture. This unique piece displays 41 complications distributed between the two sides of the case, for a total of 1521 components housed with a diameter of 45 mm and a thickness of only 14.99 mm, figures that place it at the top of the current hierarchy of large portable complications. 

Solaria stands out for a decidedly astronomical approach, combining five functions related to the Sun, Some of these features are unprecedented in watchmaking: position, altitude, culmination, declination, and even a time-tracking function for celestial objects. These complications are orchestrated on the front by a rotating star chart and multifunction counters, while the back displays a celestial chart and chronograph indications, in a presentation that blends high mechanics with cosmic poetry. 

To manage this multitude of functions, Vacheron Constantin developed a modular construction system of the type "plug and play", in which an additional module connects to the base movement to power the astronomical indications while ensuring perfect synchronization with the rest of the caliber. The 13 patent applications filed and the eight years of research required for this watch illustrate just how much the contemporary grand complication is becoming a laboratory of innovations, both in terms of mechanical architecture and readability and ergonomics. 

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon: complication through extreme thinness 

At the other end of the spectrum, Bulgari demonstrates that one can define high complication not only by the number of functions, but also by the radical nature of the technical choices, with Octo Finissimo Ultra Whirlpool. Presented at Watches & Wonders 2025, This watch sets a world record for thinness for a wrist tourbillon, with a total thickness of only 1.85 mm, including the casing, that is less than many simple calibers. 

The 40mm titanium case is paired with a platinum Tungsten carbide serves as both the case back and the movement base, merging two traditionally separate elements to save fractions of a millimeter. The highly openworked construction reveals a flying tourbillon whose cage is only 1.18 mm high, necessitating a complete redesign of the regulating organ, with a cage wheel acting as the lower bridge and an optimized oscillator architecture. 

Despite its extreme slimness, the BVL 900 caliber offers a power reserve of approximately 42 hours, with a minimalist hour and minute display. By foregoing multiple functions and focusing on a radical reduction in thickness, Bulgari propose a different form of grand complication, where the achievement lies in extreme miniaturization and the management of mechanical constraints in an almost lamellar volume. 

Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 BEYOND: the future of the skeletonized grand complication  

Audemars Piguet, historical pillar of major complications, prepares a new stage in the collection Code 11.59, with a model combining a skeletonized perpetual calendar and a sophisticated chronograph complication, announcing a convergence between open architecture and high functional complexity. At the heart of this generation is the calibre 7139, a newly designed automatic movement already introduced in open perpetual calendar versions, displaying the day, date, week, month, leap year, as well as a very high-precision astronomical moon.

This caliber, composed of more than 400 components, is designed to remain synchronized with the Gregorian calendar until 2100. requiring manual correction only on that particular date when the age-old calendar rules skip a leap year. In the spirit of the Code 11.59 line, the skeletonized version showcases bridges and wheels in a case combining gold and ceramic, with a double-curved sapphire crystal, making the mechanics of the perpetual calendar an open-air spectacle, legible from different angles. 

The addition of a split-seconds chronograph—capable of simultaneously measuring several intermediate times thanks to two superimposed chronograph hands—would transform this into a modern grand complication, focused on transparency and visual depth rather than the baroque accumulation of indications. This type of timepiece is perfectly in keeping with the current era, where the collector wants both to contemplate the inner workings of their watch and to make a statement. an object that is at once technological, sculptural and rooted in the codes of contemporary design. 

A new era for major complications  

The conjunction of historical icons like the Patek Philippe 97975, and contemporary manifestos like Les Cabinotiers Solaria or the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, and visionary platforms like the upcoming Code 11.59 BEYOND, testify toa true golden age of grand horological complicationsAs we approach Watches & Wonders 2026, Geneva is asserting itself more than ever as the world capital of these exceptional machines, offering enthusiasts, collectors and the curious a unique panorama of what the mechanical watch can achieve when almost no limits are imposed upon it. 

In a technological landscape dominated by connected objects, these extreme watches play the role of radical counter-proposals,concentrating know-how, innovation and emotion in a few square centimeters of metal, sapphire crystal and synthetic rubies. Whether it is the chime of a Westminster chime, the silent glide of a split-seconds hand or the dizzying dance of a tourbillon on 1.85 mm thickness, the grand complication of watchmaking reminds us that time can also be experienced as a sensory, cultural and profoundly human experience. 

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