Most useful complication...for you...

nlogax
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Archer Archer
Watches have had sub-seconds since watches had seconds at all. Initially, sub-seconds movements were modified to add extra parts to make them sweep seconds. Eventually designs evolved to incorporate the sweep seconds in without having "add on" parts.

Here is an Omega movement with sub seconds - the original design:



To add sweep seconds, the center wheel is modified to have a through hole. Then a sweep seconds pinion is added that goes through the center wheel, a friction spring, and a bridge is added to hold it all in place. Then a driving wheel is pressed onto the extended 3rd wheel pivot to drive the seconds pinion, like this:



So no, sub-seconds is not considered a complication but sweep (central) seconds is.

Cheers, Al

I must admit I was being facetious, but thank you for the straight-man answer! That's really interesting 馃榿
 
Explorador
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To my understanding, all complications are features but not all features are complications. Now, the most complicated complication for me was to save the hard earned money for my first Rolex, back in the day.
Back then, my favorite complication, after the date, was the red fourth hand of that EX II 16570, since it served as a GMT function when on duty (I work in the airline world), and to distinguish between day and night in my days off. As a matter of fact, during many years, the red fourth hand was the only hand I looked at during my off days, since the order of priorities was different: 1. was it day or night? 2. which hour is it more or less?
Some years and some watches later, my favorite features are accuracy, a rotating bezel to measure time (cooking, tracking of hours of sleep), lume, amagnetism, a clear, easy to read display and reliable impermeability.
 
N05J3W3
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Hacking seconds, date, 12h rotating bezel.

...and End of Battery Life indicator. <ducks>
 
TraderSantiago
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Deafboy Deafboy
My late 1940's Vulcain Cricket delights people, especially watch nerds, when the alarm triggers. It's a wonderful watch and the alarm is a very useful complication.

Cricket.jpg

That's a very nice example!
 
ZIELSZIEK
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For me, day/date complication but I find myself more often, for some odd reason, forgetting what day of the week it is rather than the date itself.
I'm guessing complications are strictly related to the movement, but if functions are allowed on here as well I'll go with a rotating bezel, but more for the stress relief rather than timing something. Am I the only one doing that?
 
Sidreilley
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First would be a dive bezel for rough timings under an hour, second would be a chronograph. I鈥檓 not counting the date.
 
warrydog
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Since retirment, I'd say day and date are a necessity..

I do enjoy wearing my Nivada chronograph while driving.
 
Thrasher36
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A GMT for me is most useful as we travel and have a large family spread all over the world.
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That Citizen has not stopped running since 2008 and I set the time once when it was new. I guess I need to clean that bracelet....
 
Thrasher36
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Lovewatches2 Lovewatches2
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I must say its the day - date for me.

The Day Date is especially useful for retired people who have no clue what day it is.
 
Archer
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Thrasher36 Thrasher36
The Day Date is especially useful for retired people who have no clue what day it is.

If you are retired, why does it matter?
 
warrydog
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Archer Archer
If you are retired, why does it matter?

It helps when paying bills : ) Retired or not, the heat's gotta stay on. : 0 )
 
C
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Travelling a lot for work to all linds of different timezones, sometimes within days, and having a pilot licence, I insist on having one GMT watch (yes you could use braincells to do the calculation, but it鈥檚 a lot nicer to just have a nice watch do the work).

Although not a complication per se, I found out that a bidirectional bezel is very useful for all kinds of things

these two are my favourites by far
 
befobe
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Altitude... Not very usefull... I admit... but can we consider it as a "complication"?....
 
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C
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befobe befobe
Altitude... Not very usefull... I admit... but can we consider it as a "complication"?....
Might not be useful but it鈥檚 really cool nonetheles!!
Can it be calibrated by the user?
 
steelfish
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During this lockdown, the most useful complication for me would be a day display. Would help stopping every day rolling into another.
 
befobe
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C ClaudeR
Might not be useful but it鈥檚 really cool nonetheles!!
Can it be calibrated by the user?
Yes, unscrew the altimeter crown, pull at the final position, and adjust the rotating altimeter bezel... Cool, right, but it is a separated mechanism, under the movement... So according complication experts, it is NOT a complication... But I like it... 馃榾 And wear it sometimes... 馃槤
 
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