Useless/Useful complications

[EuGeniuS]

Hello, fellows
Good to see you here, and I'd like your personal thoughts about complications in watches...
My story:
So far, I've been most with simple and minimalist watches. Clean dials, most of them time-telling architectures, so nothing special, just timepieces to tell time. I usually drew attention to the watch case shapes and bracelets and straps. That's what I thought were the main attractive aspects of a watch. Now, I'm on my way to making a "step forward in horology" (sounds fancy, right? ) and getting some watches with complications. The point is that I don't really know which complications are worth paying for. Most of them sound pretty fabulous, like perpetual calendars or moon phases and smth like that. My question is how really practical and useful are those... I wouldn't like to pay a huge amount of money for features I'd get bored soon about them.....
So, my question is:
what complications are indeed useful/practical?
which of them do you find useless, which are just added for cosmetic purposes?
is it worth overpaying for a watch with complications, considering that it's highly likely to get bored of them soon?
Most of them sound really attractive, but I'm not sure if they are as utile...
Share any thoughts possible!

 

[Racrought]

hello friend. well, your questions are with many possible answers, the thing is that every single feature of the complicated watch can be useful and can bring you a lot of help. this only depends if you need this feature. you can't get bored if the feature that the watch provides you is actually useful.
when you think about complicated watches just try to imagine an iPhone. it has a lot of features and can offer you a lot of things, but for sure you don't use all of them. you can use some of them but not all of them. this doesn't make your phone boring. right?

the same thing is applied to watches with features. unfortunately, there aren't watches that can offer you all the features that a watch can possibly have. the best way is to study every single feature that exists and choose the watch with the feature that you are going to use.

calendars, dates, and days are good. these are features that quite all people use. even if you think that you are not going to use it, after some time you are going to observe that you are going to get used to it and becomes really easier to access the information.

about features like the moon phase, it is a little bit more complicated. Generally, i know a lot of people that don't use this kind of feature.. the truth is that they don't need it, but they choose such a watch becasue it looks beautiful.

there is a tiny line between deciding which one is more important, the way the watch looks, its style or maybe the functions.

 

[peGASus4338#!]

@EuGeniuS ut if the dial is among the most important aspects in a what, how could you miss it so far?
so, abut the complications!!!! YOU SURELY NEED A DATE/DAY WATCH!! That's the first to think about and no user will ever tell u it's a useless function. you have no deea how many times I look at the date window to see what day are e today I didn't even know that I need this complication so much until I got my first watch with this complication DDDD

Second, for me at least, it's the GMT time. I have my brother living in Canada, im from Western Europe, and I really need that function to keep track on zones to talk to each other.

Third, I really embrace the power reserve. it turned out to be pretty useful when you can track the power left. it somehow helps yo stay focused and charge/wind the watch on time.

Perpetual calendars, moon phases- I find them just for fun, and cosmetic purposes. they are actually symbols go high horology as only big brands can I tegrate such functions in a watch. but you asked about utile/practical functions, so no increased necessity in such functions I can see

 

[chip&dale]

@EuGeniuS ut if the dial is among the most important aspects in a what, how could you miss it so far?
so, abut the complications!!!! YOU SURELY NEED A DATE/DAY WATCH!! That's the first to think about and no user will ever tell u it's a useless function. you have no deea how many times I look at the date window to see what day are e today I didn't even know that I need this complication so much until I got my first watch with this complication DDDD

Second, for me at least, it's the GMT time. I have my brother living in Canada, im from Western Europe, and I really need that function to keep track on zones to talk to each other.

Third, I really embrace the power reserve. it turned out to be pretty useful when you can track the power left. it somehow helps yo stay focused and charge/wind the watch on time.

Perpetual calendars, moon phases- I find them just for fun, and cosmetic purposes. they are actually symbols go high horology as only big brands can I tegrate such functions in a watch. but you asked about utile/practical functions, so no increased necessity in such functions I can see

a little condenscending your comment about moon phase complication.
You omit the Muslim population from the radar, 1 out of 5, I guess, follow rigorously the lunar cycle because of their religious dates, events etc. the whole Islamic calendar has the moon phases and cycles as a foundation. And there are millions of Muslims over the world and most of them are glad to have a mon phase watch. Though, the prices for those are biting hardly


the date is indeed handy for me. AND THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I SEEK IN MY WATCHES. all the other functions I can set on my phone and I prefer leaving my watch clean

 

[Karim]

the date window is a MUST! I have issues with remembering names, phone numbers and dates , so I like look at the day/date like 25 times a day...
I couldn't care less about the moon phase and perpetual calendars actually. sorry for that, I like know these are part of high horology and stuff, but they are just not useful. only fr fun and beauty. but is it really worth paying fortune for that beauty and fun?) don't really think so)

other functions that I just don't see any sense in them are: Foudroyante function, planetarium, equation of time. these will catch the attention for 10 minutes, and after, just forget about them. absolutely useless!

 

[CasPer$$hunteR]

Alarm, date day, world time, and power reserve indicator: the best complications ever!!!!!!!! all very useful!!!!! too bad that not all reps show the real power reserve indicator, I mean the function is frozen. so, if you need it, get it with a gen watch. But all the four complications are must for my watches!!!

don't really care about the rest of functions!

 

[CosmoS]

am I the only one seeing uselessness in date function?
I mean, I get up in the morning, checking my phone, updating the date, day of the week, weather, and go to work, and don't really give a f*cking damn on the day. don't really see the need in this complication.
also, feature alike tachymeter, speed counting and stuff like that, dont represent anything for me. the less is more for me and I really don't see a watch more than just a time-telling accessory. every function. that I have in my watches aside from the time0telling is just because I like the way they look. for example, I like chronographs. but I never look at them like at a useful function. I just like the way the dial looks thanks to the subdials. maybe 1-2 weeks when I get the watch, I might be interested on them.But later on, I just don't pay attention to them. what matters to me is the dial, the case shape, thnickness+ diameter and design nice elements

 

[JL$4k029]

see no point in day/night function. I mean, if u don't live it in the south or north pole, why would u need it? maybe for those who live in Spain and have business in Australia, the function might be useful, agree. but, I have no deals with outer continents so, I wouldn't pay additionally for this function.

many people can tell you different versions about functions. but I think that you alone must understand how necessary a function is, depending on what you need, not what others will tell you. everyone uses functions depending on personal needs))

 

[Eddie]

to me, most of the complications are more for amusement or to show off. I don't know if there is still people that uses chronographs, for example. a few years ago I used this function, especially when I had to set the time to heat something in the microwave. now the microwave has its own timer. and instead of wasting a lot of time setting the chronographs, with the same success, I take out my smartphone and measure whatever I need. and I think that most people use their smartphone for what watches can do. just like with the smartphone it's more comfortable))
respectively, if we talk about functionality, the most reliable is the DATE to me. that's all. the rest are just "toys". watch dials are more impressive than their functions for me.

 

[WatchOut]

I don't know many people who buy watches with thousands of complications. if it's about complications, people mostly opt for digital watches that include modern functions and adapted to modern needs.
those like moonphase, stars, planet and smth like this are more for the older audience. they are like watches for collection and these functions are more for beauty than for practical operations. People long ago already switched to digital and G-shocks that have really necessary functions, not just decoration.

if it's a traditional watch, the maximum I accept is chronographs, date and day windows. that's all about it. the rest does not excite me at all, even if I know that they are very complex constructions. maybe when I'm 60, I'll want one of these...

 

[MinervuS]

love using the alar on my watches, even if I got the functionality in my smartphone. gene, I love to fully explore the functions of a watch, be it a rep or a gen. the most necessary for me are the date/day, GMT, alarm, step counting. specifically for the steps counting, I'm more with digital pieces...

 

[Greg_B]

it seems to me that this thread will confuse you more than it will help you. the people suggests what is relevant for them. YOU must have what you think is necessary. If everyone suggests a replica with an alarm, will you get one even if you will never use it?
finally, if it helps you with anything, GMT and date are the most relevant functions for me. I have 2 GMTs and 3 date only watches. I never felt the need for any additional function.

 

[PpiroJookK88735]

for me, tourbillons are totally useless. I don't see any value in them and I don't understand why there is so much fuss about them. I know there are complicated mechanisms behind them, but it seems to me that far too much effort is spent to highlight them as attractive functions. there is nothing attractive about them and I can't stand watches that display a tourbillon in the dial. it just complicates the whole picture. Avoid them!!!

 

[MCGregor]

first of all, I agree that you should think specifically about what YOU need, not what others need in their watches)))
secondly, if a few years ago the world was crazy about thousands of complications in a watch, now everything really is reduced to a functional minimum. Personally, I avoid watches with many complications. the more functions it has, the less often I use them, to be honest. I prefer to get a watch with a single complication. one for GMT, another for Date, and another for Date and Day. I enjoy each complication separately. when they are all in one watch, I get tired of it quickly. if my opinion matters to you

 

[Cacktoos]

tachymeter and GMT functions are the most viable for me. and respectively date/day. the rest were not useful to me at all. the rest just made the functionality of the watch difficult for me without any reasonable purpose

 

[Matias]

tourbillons- ZERO VALUE. minute repeaters - ZERO VALUE!!! wasted money. and never useful or necessary functions.

oh yes!!!! another nomination in this category are the watches with Lume hands and without LUME applied on them. How about that? It is about some Tissot models. I don't remember exactly the ref.....

And the winner iiiiiissssss: the thermometer watches..... GWA1000, to be more specific. Probably someone will find this function useful. but with the GWA1000, this was ridiculous for 2 reasons. The first is that without reading the instructions about 10 times, you will never know how to set it. And the second, much more important I think, is that even if you managed to set it, it does never show the correct temperature. The function impressed me at first. But the "functioning of the function" itself was a total ridiculousness

 

[DomPerignon]

first time I hear about watches with temperature measurement
I think this function is for pedants and for those with hypochondria syndrome, when you acutely think that you are sick with all diseases at the same time

I prefer to keep my watch as simple as possible. for all the complex functions there is the smartphone. watches are more of an aesthetic accessory for me than a practical one. that's why the endless functions seem useless to me and only make the watch more overloaded both aesthetically and functionally.
except for the date, everything seems useless to me

 

[$BarHat$]

the timer/chronometer.....
it seems to me that this function is a bit overestimated and people don't use it as often as they buy it. at least for me, I never use it. I had only one stop watch, bought out of curiosity and because of the hype around stopwatches. it took me more time to set the timer on the watch than on the phone. in addition, the subdials are so tiny that it takes me a year to set them. on the phone, setting the timer is done in one second.
a lot of money, little effect... the watch is for showing the time, and that's it. for the rest of the functions, there are alternatives

 

[YupyLuk]

I always thought that the date of the watch was indispensable for me. that is until I got my first GMT lefty rep. everything was ok with the watch, but the only drawback, if I can call it that, is that the date was hidden under the sleeve when I wore it on the left. I still wear lefties on the left, just for fun...🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣

either way, since it was covered by the sleeve, it wasn't exactly visible, and so quickly I got used to its invisibility, that I forgot about this function altogether .
what do i mean by that? it's like all watches that indicate any function more than the time, are just a caprice. It is indispensable as long as u think it is.... but in fact, u can live without it with no problem.... there is no such thing as any function being indispensable, except for time. you can live without any of the functions, it's just a matter of time. therefore, everything that is more than time indicators in a watch seems to me, in fact, useless)))))))))

 

[Simposium5338]

I find useless the functions that are added only to say that the watchmaker did add something....
I hate the no-logic and nonsense functions...
I remember how I wanted to get a watch that was advertised as the thinnest one . I went to the boutique to see it only to be disappointed by how thick it actually was.
but that's not what captured me the most. I was caught by the fact that the watch had a tachymetric scale, without even having a second hand, and without even being a chronograph.
a silly function just to justify the price