I remember the first time I encountered the watchmaking term “complication”. It was at the Geneva airport where there was a huge billboard for the watchmaker Franck Muller with the tagline “Master of Complications”. I remember thinking what an awful slogan it was…little did I know back then.
Fast forward to the present day and the term “complication” is music to my ears. The watchmaking complication refers to any indication on a watch in addition to the hours, minutes. This can be everything from the seconds to the date, the positions of the sun and the moon to elapsed time, additional time zones to high tides, and more. There are also “complicated” ways of doing things, like switching out the standard regulating organ for a tourbillon, or making the hours and minutes chime. Basically, the more you can squeeze into the limited space of 1:1 UK replica watches, the more complicated it is.
This is where the “Grand Complication” comes in. Traditionally, a grand complication could be called “grand” if it featured a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, a tourbillon, and a chronograph. Nowadays, however, it is accepted that although stacking complications is incredibly impressive, creating something that has never been done before is also pretty “complicated.” Some aficionados will argue that three complications is just a complicated high quality fake watches, but four—and more certainly five—qualifies for the grand complication nomenclature. These arguments go around and around, like the hands on a watch.
Patek Philippe divides its current collection into complications (world timers, chronographs, and annual calendars) and grand complications (perpetual calendars, tourbillons, chiming cheap replica watches, and so on). Other brands do it differently, or not at all. There are simply no hard and fast rules, but what constitutes a grand complication is usually pretty obvious, nonetheless. So “complicated,” we could say, has expanded to include all things wonderful in every way and form. Add to this the fact that watchmakers are a very competitive bunch who always try to outdo each other and this makes complicating things even more interesting.
Without further ado—and with my opinion, and that of my editor Allen Farmelo, noted—here are the top grand complication copy watches for sale created to date.
Replica Patek Philippe Grand Master Chime Watches
In more recent history, Patek Philippe celebrated its 175th birthday in 2014 with its most complex timepiece to date (this time using modern-day CNC technology). The best 2024 fake Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175 watches comes loaded with six patents, 20 complications, five chiming modes, two reversible dials, and a movement made up of 1,366 parts. A one-of-a-kind version in stainless steel (reference 6300A-010) was sold at the Christie’s Only Watch charity auction in 2019, fetching $31 million and becoming the most expensive watch ever sold at auction. Since then Christie’s sold off Sly Stallone’s GMC, which seems to have angered Patek CEO Thierry Stern.
Fake Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle (RD#4) Watches
Released in 2023, luxury replica Audemars Piguet’s Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle watches paid tribute to the brand’s L’Universelle pocket watch from 1899. Currently on display in Audemars Piguet’s Musée Atelier, this historic piece was one of the most complicated pieces ever produced by the brand so it was no wonder that the brand wanted to return to it. The modern-day Universelle is even more impressive with 26 functions and a host of complications, including a Grande Sonnerie Carillon, perpetual calendar, split-seconds chronograph, jumping seconds, and deadbeat chronograph seconds to name a few. What also makes this timepiece particularly interesting is that it is only 42mm in diameter. To pack that much into such a small space is a complication in itself. It is also extremely intuitive and user-friendly, another major plus in the world of grand complications.
IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar Replica Watches
The AAA wholesale fake IWC Portuguieser Eternal Calendar watches technically doesn’t come close to grand complication status with only two complications—a perpetual calendar and a moonphase—but its Eternal Calendar breaks interesting new ground. The current record for the most accurate perpetual calendar is 400 years, while moon phase accuracy currently stands at 2 million years (both achieved by Andreas Strehler’s Sauterelle à Laune Perpetuelle 2M, in case you were wondering). IWC’s Portugieser Eternal Calendar super clone watches for men, however, will keep perfect track of the exact date until the year 3999 and it only stops there because no one knows what is going to happen with leap years in the 40th century! In case that wasn’t enough, it has also taken moon phase accuracy to 45 million years.