Free interactive
Build a dial, one complication at a time
Switch functions on and off and watch the dial change. Each one tells you what it does, how often you would actually use it, and what it costs you in thickness, money and servicing.
Parts
~130
Thickness
10 mm
Service
Low
Add a complication
Complexity is a cost, not a feature
The watch industry sells complications as achievements, and mechanically they are. As an owner your relationship with them is different: every added function is more parts to wear out, more thickness on the wrist, and a larger bill every time the watch is serviced.
A simple three hand automatic is the cheapest thing in horology to maintain and the most reliable, because there is very little to go wrong. A chronograph roughly doubles the part count and requires a watchmaker who is comfortable with it. A perpetual calendar can cost several thousand to service and cannot be sent just anywhere.
None of that is an argument against complications. It is an argument for buying the ones you will use, which for most people is a date and possibly a second time zone, and treating the rest as things you are buying because you find them beautiful rather than useful.
The ones people regret buying
Chronographs, for people who never time anything. They look purposeful and most owners use the function once, in the shop. They also add thickness, pushers that catch on cuffs, and a service bill roughly double a three-hander's.
GMT hands, for people who do not travel. Genuinely transformative if you cross time zones and completely inert if you do not, in which case you have paid for a fourth hand that permanently duplicates the hour hand.
Moonphase, for anyone who needs the moon phase. Nobody needs it. It survives because it is charming, and that is a perfectly good reason to buy one, but it is worth being honest that it is decoration with gears rather than a tool.
Common questions
What counts as a complication?
Anything beyond hours and minutes. A date is a complication, so is a running seconds hand strictly speaking. The word refers to added mechanical complexity, not to difficulty of use.
Which is the most useful?
The date, comfortably. Most people check it more often than they time anything, and it adds little thickness and little cost. A second time zone comes next, but only if you actually cross them.
Is a tourbillon worth it?
Not on practical grounds. It was designed to counter gravity in pocket watches held in one position, and a wristwatch moves constantly, so most of the benefit disappears. It is bought as a demonstration of craft.
What is the date change danger zone?
Roughly between 9pm and 3am, when the date change mechanism is engaged. Forcing the date in that window can break teeth on the date wheel. Move the hands to a safe hour first, then set the date.
Related tools
Not sure what your watch has?
Upload a few photos and get model identification, an authenticity verdict and a market valuation in under 30 seconds.
Scan your watch