2024 marks the year of the completion of the world's most complicated watch ever made.
Berkley Grand Complication. Image: Distinct Timepieces
Vacheron Constantin unveiled the Berkley Grand Complication at Watches and Wonders - a timepiece completely built by hand by three watchmakers, weighing just shy of a kilogram.
Berkley Grand Complication. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The Berkley Grand Complication boasts a record 63 complications and is made of 2,877 individual components including 31 hands.
This masterpiece took 11 years to complete, one year of which was solely dedicated to its assembly.
Berkley Grand Complication Movement. Image: Vacheron Constantin
Founded in 1755, Vacheron Constantin is the oldest watchmaking manufacture in uninterrupted activity for more than 265 years.
Vacheron Constantin Building. Image: Vacheron Constantin
Within the manufacture, there’s a department known as Les Cabinotiers which specialises in bringing unique ideas to life.
Basically, If you’ve got a minimum budget of a few hundred thousand, you can commission a piece unique that Vacheron Constantin will create for you.
This department revives 18th century Geneva when the elite commissioned their watches directly from the Cabinotiers, which is slang for the watchmakers working in cabinets on the top floors of Genevas horological ateliers.
Les Cabinotiers at work. Image: Vacheron Constantin
You can specify both artistic and technical aspects of the watch and previous commissioners have even opted to get their timepiece to fit the dashboard of their bespoke Rolls Royce.
Les Cabinotiers Engraving. Image: Vacheron Constantin
Les Cabinotiers Enamelling. Image: Vacheron Constantin
Les Cabinotiers Gem-Setting. Image: Vacheron Constantin
Les Cabinotiers Rolls-Royce Dashboard. Image: Vacheron Constantin
Les Cabinotiers Rolls-Royce Dashboard. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The commissioner of the Berkley Grand Complication decided to go all out and the result can only be described as spectacular.
Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication. Image: Vacheron Constantin
With its 98mm diameter and 50.55mm case thickness, it’s safe to say this isn’t a watch intended to be worn. This timepiece is purely an exhibit of skill and the pushing of horological boundaries.
Berkley Grand Complication Movement. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The 63 complications of this watch fall into 9 categories, namely:
1. Time Measurement and Regulation (9 Complications)
2. Gregorian Perpetual Calendar (7 Complications)
3. Chinese Perpetual Calendar (11 Complications)
4. Chinese Agricultural Perpetual Calendar (2 Complications)
5. Astronomical Indications (9 Complications)
6. Alarm Functions (7 Complications)
7. Split Second Chronograph (4 Complications)
8. Westminster Carillon (8 Complications)
9. Additional Complications (6 Complications)
The standout innovation of this watch is the Chinese Perpetual Calendar, programmed to the year 2200. This is a genius achievement given the extreme complexity of the Chinese calendar, which is both irregular and cyclical by nature.
Berkley Grand Complication. Image: Vacheron Constantin
A disc-type display shows the exact date of the Chinese New Year, which fluctuates between January 21 and February 21, and an aperture positioned below the moon phases also displays the current year’s Chinese Zodiac animal.
Disc-Type Chinese New Year Display. Image: Vacheron Constantin
To complement this Chinese perpetual calendar, the precision phases and age of the moon appear on the 12 o'clock counter, with no need for corrections over a full 1,027 years
Age of Moon Display. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The watch’s second face displays a Gregorian Perpetual calendar and there’s a celestial sky chart with real-time constellations appearing as observed from Shanghai.
Berkley Grand Complication Sky Chart. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The 6 ‘o’ clock position has a mesmerising triple-axis armillary sphere tourbillon regulator to increase precision. The inclusion of a tourbillon makes makes perfect sense in the case of this pocket-watch, as tourbillons have the greatest effect in increasing chronometry when the case is kept in a single vertical position. 
Armillary Sphere Tourbillon. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The hour, minute and seconds hands are displayed on separate counters, just like on an old age regulator clock. The seconds hand operates in a retrograde motion, animating the display by advancing along its arc and then jumping back to its start position every minute. The watch also features a chronograph, accurate to the nearest fifth of a second with a split-second function
Berkley Grand Complication. Image: Vacheron Constantin
One of the most intriguing complications, in my opinion, is the Westminster Carillon which involves 5 gongs and 5 hammers. This mechanism reproduces the melody of the bells of London’s Big Ben, in four sets of four notes played at various pitches, with an additional note indicating the hour. The Grand Sonnerie has a "Night" function that allows the owner to disable the alarm for a period of his choice.
In addition to all of these complications highlighted, the Berkley Grand Complication also features a second time zone indication and a world time displaying 24 different time zones.
Berkley Grand Complication World Time. Image: Vacheron Constantin
The Berkley Grand Complication was named after its commissioner, William R. Berkley who is a collector of pocket watches and also the owner of the previous world record piece with 57 complications, also created by Vacheron Constantin.
The realisation of such a project like this hinges on a relationship of mutual trust between the commissioner and the expert watchmakers at Vacheron Constantin. Together, they were able to push the limits of feasibility to complete what can be described as a “herculian task of hyper-horology”.
Berkley Grand Complication. Image: Distinct Timepieces
Vacheron Constantin’s watchmakers did their utmost to incorporate the full range of horology’s noblest complications into this watch, be they in the realm of astronomical and chiming functions, as well as useful complications in terms of chronometry, alarms and time zones – all governed by a determination to achieve very high precision.
This timepiece is truly an impressive feat.
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