- By Ajeet Kumar
- Tue, 01 Apr 2025 10:03 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Vacheron Constantin watches: This fancy watch follows the sun's place in the sky, makes sounds with tiny hammers hitting small gongs, and shows when you can see certain stars from Earth. Swiss company Vacheron Constantin made this new watch, and it's the most complicated wristwatch ever. In watchmaking, a "complication" is any extra feature beyond just telling time, like a calendar or moon tracker, CNN reported. This watch called the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication, has a record 41 of these features.
It was shown at a big watch event in Switzerland on Tuesday. The watch has 1,521 tiny parts and is one-of-a-kind. The company wants to protect it with 13 patents, including seven for how it chimes.
Vacheron Constantin: Features of the most complicated watch:
- According to a report by CNN, the watch shows three kinds of time: regular 24-hour time, sidereal time (how long Earth takes to spin, about four minutes less than a day), and solar time (adjusted for Earth's oval orbit).
- It also tracks the sun's position, height, path, and angle compared to the equator. Plus, it has a spinning display of the 13 zodiac star groups, which you can set to show when those stars will appear in the sky.
- Vacheron Constantin said it took eight years to make this "amazing invention."
- The watch case is made of 18-karat white gold and has over 200 jewels, including sapphire discs.
Featuring gray metallization and a subdued color palette, the reverse side evokes the look of a car dashboard gauge (L), On the front dial of the watch, the absence of traditional ornamentation creates a distinctly modern aesthetic (R). Credit: Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin has a history of manufacturing complicated watches
The company, started in 1755 and now owned by a big luxury group called Richemont, also made the most complicated pocket watch ever. That one, called the Berkley Grand Complication, has 63 features, including a Chinese calendar that follows both the moon and sun. It was shown last year.
Pocket watches can be bigger than wristwatches, though. The new Solaria watch is 45 millimetres (1.8 inches) wide, less than half the size of the Berkley one. Fitting all these features into a small wristwatch was a big challenge, said Christian Selmoni, who helps run style and history at Vacheron Constantin.
In a statement, Selmoni called it a "tiny miracle." He said the watchmakers put all the small parts together in the smartest, tightest way they could. They combined the main features-- like time, calendars, timers, and chime-- on one base, with star-tracking stuff on another layer. This made the watch look balanced and fit nicely on a wrist.
