The Best High-Complication Watches of 2024

This is it… Here’s the last retrospective article of the year, retracing 2024 through the best watches per category. Following the best chronographs, the best dive watches or the best dress watches, we’re now unleashing the beasts. What if money was not an issue? What if there was no limit to either watchmakers’ creativity or your purchasing power? Think about this article as our own Oscars of watchmaking, the best the industry can produce in terms of pure horology. Let’s have a closer look at the best high-complication watches of 2024, ranging from an incredibly thin watch to one of the most impressive traveller’s watches or a spectacular calendar timepiece. 

Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance

This year, to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the manufacture, Armin Strom has released a new evolution of their resonance concept – a groundbreaking development that has truly set the brand apart. A fascinating concept that has long been explored but hardly ever mastered, Armin Strom took this concept further with its Mirrored Force Resonance, where two balance wheels are synchronized through a clutch spring. Now a well-established signature movement of the brand, the new Dual Time GMT Resonance embraces a symmetrical design language and is more compact than previous versions, measuring only 39mm in diameter and 9.05mm in thickness – which is nothing short of exceptional considering the level of complication found in this movement – it features two independent barrels and gear trains, allowing it to display two fully independent time zones, in an almost dress watch size… The back is equally impressive and beautifully finished and the overall watch is a demonstration of maturity from the duo behind Armin Strom.

For more details about the Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance, consult our hands-on article here and our in-depth video here.

Bovet Récital 28 Prowess 1

A world’s first in the field of traveller’s watches, the Bovet Récital 28 Prowess 1 is a true mechanical masterpiece. In addition to the obvious traveller’s complication, this watch includes a spectacular perpetual calendar displayed by rollers, a tourbillon and a 10-day power reserve movement finished with extreme care. But what matters is the large circular display module in aventurine at the bottom of the dial… The Récital 28 Prowess 1 is a world premiere that addresses one of the major challenges faced by traditional world-timers: Daylight Saving Time (DST). It involves displaying the cities/time zones on rollers. Each of the 24 rollers has four positions that can be switched by pressing the crown: UTC, AST (American Summer Time), EAS (Europe and America Summer Time), and EWT (European Winter Time) which can be read on an additional roller at the left-hand side of the worldtime indication. No fewer than 744 components are at work to create this stunning watch.

For more details about the Bovet Récital 28 Prowess 1, consult our hands-on article here.

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC

Meet the thinnest, commercially available mechanical watch in the world… Sure, Konstantin Chaykin has recently presented a prototype measuring 1.65mm in thickness, but Bulgari remains the true master of ultra-thin, with so many of its watches still holding records. Besides being only 1.70mm in thickness, thus surpassing its previous record of 1.80mm with the Gen-1 Octo Finissimo Ultra, the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC demonstrates that thinness and miniaturization are done without compromising daily usability. Not only this watch is paper-thin but it’s also a relatively robust timepiece with a sporty, modern look, and a movement with a precision that’s been certified as a chronometer by COSC. And if you think that this race for thinness is irrelevant, look a bit further as it requires thinking outside of the box, looking at entirely new ways to build a movement, inventing unprecedented technical solutions and should, without question, be considered as a true complication.

For more details about the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC, consult our review article here.

De Bethune DB Kind of Grande Complication

Two faces, a rotating case, two completely different personalities and eight complications in total… The DB Kind of Grande Complication is the summary of Denis Flageollet‘s technical and aesthetic voyage over the last 22 years. The beauty of this watch, besides being a technical marvel, lies in having two very distinct design characteristics, both being undeniably De Bethune. The base is a reversible double-sided case, with its ingenious rotation system allowing the case to pivot smoothly around its central axis. The first of the two dials is classic with Roman numerals and a mirror-polished blued titanium night sky. This face is home to a perpetual calendar and a 3D moon phase display, with yellow gold open-tipped hands. The other side is futuristic and technical with its signature triangular titanium bridge, and home to a high-speed De Bethune 30-second tourbillon beating at 5Hz, the retrograde age of the Moon, a power reserve indicator and a central jumping seconds hands. The manual-winding calibre DB2529 comprises 552 parts and is packed with De Bethune patented features.

For more details about the De Bethune DB Kind of Grande Complication, consult our hands-on article here.

IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar

One of the most talked-about models of the year, IWC presented its definitive vision of a calendar watch, the Portugieser Eternal Calendar. IWC’s first secular perpetual calendar, which won’t need adjusting until 3999, also includes a moon phase indicator that will remain accurate for 45 million years (a world record). What makes this watch so special is not only its secular calendar function but its mechanical simplicity. As a secular calendar, the Portugieser Eternal Calendar takes into account even the so-called centurial years – years ending in 00 that can be divided by 400 are leap years (1600, 2000, 2400, 2800), while centurial years like 2100, 2200 and 2300, which can be divided by 100, are not. A very rare complication, it’s here managed by a 400-year gear designed to skip three leap years over four centuries and comprising only 8 components – typical of IWC’s clever calendar watches as designed by Kurt Klaus. This ingenious system has been awarded the Aiguille d’Or at the GPHG 2024.

For more details about the Portugieser Eternal Calendar, consult our hands-on article with video here.