Top 2017 Complication Watches. Best 2017 Complication Watches. Our article of the “Best in 2017” series is dedicated to the best watches launched in 2017 with horological complications.
Our last article for the “Best in 2017” series is dedicated to some of the best watches launched in 2017 that feature horological complications.
To read our other selections in the Chronographs, Diving Watches, Dress Watches and Ladies Watches categories, just follow the links.
Selected watches are listed alphabetically, not in order of preference.
A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Annual Calendar
Introduced at SIHH 2017, the 1815 Annual Calendar was the second A. Lange & Söhne timepiece endowed with the useful calendar function. Differently from the self-winding Saxonia Annual Calendar featuring an outsize date, the new model comes with a manually wound movement and an analogue date, following the classic design and style principles of the 1815 watch family.More than for the complication in itself, the 1815 Annual Calendar is remarkable for the visual balance of its dial with the blued-steel hands clearly standing out against the argenté-coloured background and perfectly complemented by the black Arabic numerals and the peripheral railway-track minute scale. The 40 mm round case, available in white gold or pink gold, houses the calibre L051.3 whose can be admired through the sapphire crystal case back. Full article.
Armin Strom Mirrored Force Resonance
Presented in rose gold, stainless steel and with the option of a precious hand-made guilloché dial, the Armin Storm Mirrored Force Resonance was one of the most appreciate novelty of 2017. The patented resonating dual regulator mechanism displayed on the dial side has the primary goal to increase precision and rate stability. Highly complex to develop, this system utilises two independent mainsprings, gear trains, escapements, and balances, each connected by a rack and pinion to allow fine tuning of the distance between them. The Calibre ARF15 is a manually wound movement that was conceived, manufactured, assembled, and regulated in-house. Beating at a 3.5 Hertz (25,200 vph) frequency and offering a 48-hour power reserve, it allows the observer to really appreciate the patented, resonant regulators in action as well as the symmetrical twin display of seconds. Full article.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Black Ceramic
Made of hand-finished ceramic, this full black version of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar frames a "Grande Tapisserie" decorated dial where day, date, month, astronomical moon, week of the year and leap year indication are beautifully arranged. Virtually unscratchable, black ceramic withstands high temperatures and thermal shocks, and is consequently extremely resistant also to ageing. Protected by the 41 mm case, the meticulously refined selfwinding calibre 5134 is fully visible through the glareproofed sapphire crystal caseback. Beating at the unusual frequency of 2.75 Hz (19,800 vibrations per hour), it guarantees a minimal power reserve of 40 hours. Full article.
Breguet Marine Equation Marchante 5887
Launched at Baselworld 2018, the Équation Marchante 5887 marks the start of a new era - technically and aesthetically - for Breguet’s Marine collection. Characterised by central lugs, the 43.9 mm case of the model is available in rose gold or platinum. The rose gold version frames a silvered dial and an anthracite movement, while the platinum interpretation has a blue dial and a rhodium-plated movement. The precious timepiece features a running equation of time, a perpetual calendar and a tourbillon together with a power reserve indicator. The equation of time is one of the rarest and most fascinating horological complications - serves to display the difference between mean solar time, corresponding to civil or standard hours and minutes, and true solar time, meaning the actual solar hours and minutes. While most equation of time watches indicates the difference between civil time and solar time (-16 to +14 minutes) leaving to the user to mentally add or subtract the difference displayed in relation to mean time in order to calculate true solar time, the Marine Équation Marchante from Breguet simultaneously indicates civil time and true time by means of two separate minutes hands. Full article.
F.P.Journe Vagabondage III
Produced by F.P.Journe in a limited series of 69 pieces in platinum and 68 pieces in red gold, the Vagabondage III followed the Vagabondage I (2006) and the Vagabondage II (2009) models. The name was originally chosen because the time was indicated by a wandering digital display. Retaining the flat Tortue case and the same size of the Vagabondage II (45.2 mm x 37.6 mm with a height of 7.84 mm), the new Vagabondage III features a 3 Hz (21,600 vph) manually wound movement with a remontoir d’égalité that advances the time train each second. A window at 10 o'clock displays the digital hour while the second window at 6 o’clock indicates the digital jumping seconds, a world premiere. Minutes are indicated by the central white hand. The power reserve, indicated by a blued steel hand, completes the dial indications. Full article.
Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar
With the new Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar, Glashütte Original succeeded in creating a perpetual calendar that is both complete and easy to read. The brand further refined this complication in terms of visual balance, precision, and stability thanks to the new Calibre 36 automatic movement, whose innovative silicon spiral enables extreme precision, while a single spring barrel ensures a power reserve of more than 100 hours, at a frequency of 4 Hertz (28,800 vibrations per hour). Along with hours, minutes and seconds, the Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar presents the characteristic Glashütte Original Panorama Date, a finely worked moon phase, and weekday, month and leap year indicators. The watch features a 42 mm x 12.8 mm case, available in satin-polished stainless steel or red gold, combined to silver-grained dial highlighting in contrast the laser-cut, galvanic black indexes and railroad chapter ring. Full article.
Patek Philippe Ref. 5320G Perpetual Calendar
The Patek Philippe Reference 5320G Perpetual Calendar comes with the same face that has been Patek Philippe's paragon for perpetual calendars since 1941: a double aperture for the day and month displays at 12 o'clock and a subsidiary dial at 6 o'clock for the analog date and the moon phases. Additionally, the cream-coloured dial now has a small day/night aperture between 7 and 8 o'clock and a second aperture for the leap year cycle symmetrically positioned between 4 and 5 o'clock. Applied gold Arabic numerals and sharp-tipped luminous hands, a slender sweep seconds hand, and the crisply graduate seconds scale assure excellent legibility. Crafted from white gold, the 40 mm vintage-style case has a so-called box-type sapphire-crystal glass and characteristic three-tier lugs. The sapphire-crystal case back that reveals the 4 Hz Calibre 324 S Q movement. Full article.
Wonderful watches. I agree with your selections.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the Vacheron Constantin Celestia?
ReplyDeleteHi rafandy, the Celestia is clearly an exceptional watch with an impressive number of complications but in this article we decided not to include piece uniques.
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