TOP 5 Watch Complications & Why!

I've been collecting now for over 10 years, which is just insane to think about. I have to say that my taste has definitely been refined over the last, I would say five or so years, working in the watch industry and getting to see so many amazing timepieces. So today I wanted to list off what are my top five favorite complications in a wristwatch. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Guys, before this video starts, I'd really appreciate if you hit the like button, subscribe for more videos like this in the future. Leave me a comment down below any videos you'd like to see from me here at Bernini's Jewelry on our YouTube channel. Of course, Watches and Wonders is quickly approaching, so stay tuned. We will have a lot of content coming up for Watches and Wonders. So guys, as I mentioned, today's video, we're gonna be talking about my top five favorite complications. I will be going in order in terms of what I personally like the most. Starting first with what I feel is probably the most prestigious and visually appealing complication of all time. Actually, not the most prestigious. I would say a minute repeater is probably more prestigious than this, but second most prestigious would be a tourbillon. This one happens to be a very, very special one from, of course, Breguet. It's an automatic tourbillon with a five-day power reserve, guilloche dial, that incredible coin edge mid case, just incredible. Everything that you'd expect from, of course, Breguet. Now, what makes the tourbillon so appealing to me? Well, of course, for one, is the watchmaking history, right? In terms of its actual usefulness in a wristwatch, well, tourbillons are actually not that useful because these were meant to negate the effect of gravity on a stationary pocket watch, meaning a pocket watch that was slated in one position for hours on end. And as, of course, we've come to know, a wristwatch is constantly in motion on your wrist. And so as a result, the gravity defying effects of a tourbillon really have no real timekeeping effect or accuracy kind of change while the watch is on your wrist. However, that being said, it still remains without question one of, if not the most visually appealing complications. And of course, if you were to, I think at one point or another, as a watch collector, consider owning a high-end complication, one that is purely for the love of watchmaking, I think being able to visually see that tourbillon either at six o'clock, at nine o'clock, 12 o'clock, three o'clock, whatever it may be, out there on the dial for the kind of viewing pleasure of the wearer, it is without question one of the most satisfying complications. And it's my very favorite complication for that reason. I think there is no other complication that has the incredible visual interest of this watch. In terms of my second favorite complication, I would say it has to be a chronograph. There's just that kind of cool factor of a chronograph. You know, if you think what are some of the most iconic and of course collectible watches out there, Daytona, Speedmasters, for example. This happens to be a really, really special one. It's a Patek Philippe reference 5170P. I've talked about my love for this reference. It is kind of my quintessential watch. Like I was to make it, right? That I made it in life watch. This would be the one I would want to buy. The 5170P, I think is emblematic of everything that makes Patek Philippe great. I think it's going to be a very collectible reference. Again, this is a brand with over 180 years of history. This is their first in-house manual wind chronograph movement. Now this isn't a flyback chronograph, which of course the Lange datagraph is, which of course bonus points to them for having that. But I will say that overall, right? If I was to consider what is the best chronograph maker out there, Patek has to be up there as one of, if not the very best makers without question. So I think owning a chronograph in any form has to be on the bucket list and it has to be in a long-term collection for a collector. Be it a high-end chronograph like this, like from Patek, from Lange, from Breguet, from Vacheron, or any of the kind of other high-end, really high-end Swiss brands or German brands. Even of course, Grand Seiko makes an amazing spring drive chronograph, which is just fantastic. Or of course you can go the sporty route within the route of a Daytona or a Speedmaster. I just think that that chronograph function, although not necessarily used by most watch collectors, is simply one of the most aesthetically pleasing and cool kind of complications to have. And of course, at the end of the day, it's a great toy to fidget with, if of course you're bored and just want something cool to do. So yeah, I love a chronograph, a good chronograph, especially a dress chronograph, very hard to execute at a very high level. I think Lange, I think Patek are some of the very best. And again, these are some watches that I would love to own at some point. Now, number three is gonna be one that is actually something that you rarely see in the watch industry. Almost no kind of watchmakers do this, but it is one of my favorite complications because for one, it's very hard to execute, but for two, it is extremely functional. And that is the zero reset. Now, what is the zero reset? Essentially, all that means is when you pull the crown out, the seconds gets reset to zero. And so that allows you to accurately and properly set the time precisely to the second very easily without having to wait for a certain amount of seconds to elapse. We've all done it. We've all been there waiting for kind of the, you know, counting in your head, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, doing the countdown to really precisely set your watch to the exact seconds. Well, with a zero reset, you're able to do this right precisely when of course the time changes. I think that makes it one of the most functional, one of the best kind of complications that money could buy simply for that reason. This is a really special zero reset watch. It's the A. Lange & Sohn Saxomat. Of course, with this incredible three-quarter micro-rotor movement, I think one of the best, I think most Lange collectors would agree, one of the best movements Lange ever made. I mean, this three-quarter micro-rotor movement is just to die for, just breathtaking. Gold rotor, platinum winding mass on the outside that is soldered on, just beautiful. Of course, it's German silver. Bridges are just phenomenal. And again, to die for, just a watch that is just so, so damn good. I mean, everything about this watch is just spectacular. And I absolutely love it. There's nothing about this watch I would change. I think it is so beautiful. And one of the most underrated buys out there, no question about it. You can pick these up for a steal, an absolute bargain out there. And it's one that I would highly, highly consider as a watch collector. Again, very, very seldomly done by most watch brands because it is a very, very hard movement to execute and a very hard complication to execute for one that is extremely, extremely functional and user-friendly. Fourth up is going to be the GMT complication. I think this one is self-explanatory. It's one of the best-selling kind of categories in the world of watches. Very functional, very easy to use. Again, this one happens to be a very special one. It's a GMT Master II meteorite dial. Of course, lots of rumors circling in terms of whether the Pepsi will get discontinued in 2026. Do I know for sure? What's my kind of take on it? To be honest with you guys, we won't know anything until the day of. At the end of the day, I've seen many, many people try to speculate year in, year out about what Rolex is going to do, what Rolex is going to release. And 99% of the time, they're wrong. It's just the reality of it. Rolex keeps a very tight ship. They simply do not release things until pretty much a few hours before Watches and Wonders releases. And again, even then, it's still very, very hard to know if that kind of information is reliable and will actually come to pass. So the reality is, is Rolex kind of, you just don't know what they're going to do year in, year out. And although I love the GMT-Master II from Rolex, I think they execute it at the highest level. There are so many other brands that create GMTs that are very, very high level. Grand Seiko makes a great GMT. I think Tudor makes a great GMT. And of course, you can go really high end. You can go for like a Lange 1 time zone or a Patek Philippe World Time, which technically, although it is not a GMT in kind of the idea of kind of a Rolex GMT if you were to compare it, but it does track kind of multiple time zones, which is the way that I kind of idealize the GMT, right? In terms of the fourth spot on my list, something that can track multiple time zones, right? So GMT World Time kind of either or just kind of fits that bill really, really well. I like the GMT-Master II. It's my personal favorites. The one I'm wearing today, it's the longest tenured watch in my collection. And I think it's been here for a reason, right? The reason being that it's just so functional, so easy to use. And of course it just looks good. So yeah, next up I would say is the last one. And again, a very, very functional complication. I think something that most watch collectors should try to aspire to own at some point, and that is a perpetual calendar. This one, again, happens to be a special one invented by Chris Kloss back in the 1980s. It's a portrait user perpetual. This one happens to be a platinum, which is awesome. I would have to say that these portrait user perpetual calendars, when you think about just how ingenious this movement is, the fact that with a single crown, you're able to set the entire calendar forward. I mean, this is just something that shows the mastery of Kurt Kloss as a watchmaker, and IWC also as a watchmaker. The fact that so many other watch brands simply weren't able to even come close to producing this until really recently. So, I mean, again, this is just an incredible movement, seven-day power reserve. But I think owning a perpetual calendar, again, it's in that kind of breadth of the best complications, right? Something that's really functional, that will keep the day-date-month leap year for a hundred years consecutively. So essentially beyond your lifetime, you're already looking at potentially passing this on to the next generation. There's just something kind of romantic of owning an old-school complication like this that I think is really well-executed by, of course, IWC. You can get great deals from JLC. Of course, my favorite maker of a perpetual calendar is Patek. There's great other watchmakers, you know, Lange again, Breguet again, Vacheron Constantin. So many great watchmakers who make amazing perpetual calendars at a very high level that you can get for really a great price. I think for some reason, the market tends to kind of gravitate towards a chronograph, and I totally understand that, right? Chronograph complication is just to die for. It's just awesome. It really is sporty, cool, everything that you want in the watch. But it seems like calendars don't really get their flowers as much as the other complications, like even here on the table. And so for that reason, you can actually pick these up for great deals. In particular, these Portugieser Perpetuals, I mean, on the secondary market, you can pick them up for half their retail, in some cases, under $20,000. I mean, that's just some of the best buying you could find on the secondhand market, in my personal opinion. So guys, these are my five favorite complications in order of what I like. Let me know what you think down in the comments below. What are your five favorite complications? I would love to get your feedback. How long have you been collecting? What's in your collection? I would love to know how people's kind of tastes has evolved and how your kind of conception of what your favorite complications are and how that has evolved over time. So I'll definitely say that this has definitely changed over the last couple of years, but I think it's kind of solidified, and these are really my favorites that have been kind of my favorites for a long time now. I would say at least two or three years. But yeah, if you enjoyed this video, again, I'd really appreciate if you liked the video. Subscribe for more videos like this in the future. As always, this is Marco for Bernina Jewelry. Thanks so much for watching.