Vacheron Constantin unveiled a record-breaking wristwatch at the 2025 Watches and Wonders trade fair in Geneva. The Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication offers 41 functions, making it the most complicated mechanical wristwatch ever produced. In horology, a “complication” is any function beyond standard time-telling.
The new watch tracks the sun’s position, chimes with hammers hitting miniature gongs, and tells when certain stars will be visible. The front dial has a modern look without traditional decoration. The back, with its grey color and simple style, looks like a car dashboard gauge.
The one-off design has 1,521 parts. Vacheron Constantin wants to protect it with 13 patent applications. The watch shows three types of time: a 24-hour day, sidereal time (about four minutes shorter than a day), and solar time (adjusted for Earth’s orbit).
It also tracks the sun’s position, height, path, and angle to Earth’s equator.
Record-breaking wristwatch unveiled
A rotating display shows when zodiac constellations will next be visible.
Vacheron Constantin said the watch took eight years to make. They called it a “masterpiece of innovation.” The case is 18-karat white gold with over 200 jewels, including sapphire discs. Vacheron Constantin also holds the record for the most complicated pocket watch, with 63 complications.
But pocket watches can be much bigger than wristwatches. At 45 millimeters (1.8 inches), the new wristwatch is less than half the size of the complex pocket watch. The challenge was fitting all the functions into a case small enough to wear comfortably.
Christian Selmoni, the brand’s style director, called the wristwatch a “feat of miniaturization.” He said the watchmakers arranged the tiny parts in the most compact way possible. The main goal was to put the main complications – timekeeping, calendar, chronograph and chiming – on one base plate. The astronomical functions are on an extra plate.
This design made a wristwatch with good proportions possible.
Photo by; Marek Prygiel on Unsplash
