Complications
Heartbreaker's 2010 post initiates a comprehensive overview of the 'big date' complication, inviting the WatchProSite community to share their favorite implementations. The author provides a visual guide to various big date mechanisms from numerous brands, highlighting the diversity in design and engineering. This article serves as an excellent reference for understanding the aesthetic and technical nuances of this highly practical watch complication.
One of the most useful complications, IMO, is the big date. With this post, I'd like to offer an overview of the proposals available on the market.
The photographic material has not been produced by me: the pictures come from the internet or they’re taken from catalogues and magazines. For each Maison, I suggest only a watch, except for De Grisogono. On this page, you’ll find the big dates whose operation is explained by a specific image or it’s evident for the transparency of the dial. Please find a second page with all the other proposals I have collected.
What’s your favorite big date?
Ciao!
A. Favre et Fils Phoenix 10.1
A. Lange & Söhne Lange 31
Blancpain Léman Aqua Lung Grande Date
Carl F. Bucherer Patravi EvoTec DayDate
Chopard L.U.C 150 “All-in-One”
De Grisogono Instrumento Grande Open Date
Eberhard Extra-Fort Roue à Colonnes Grande Date
Eterna Vaughan Big Date
Girard Perregaux Vintage 1945 King Size
Glashütte Original Senator Rattrapante
Ulysse Nardin Sonata Cathedral Dual Time
Vianney Halter Trio Grande Date
Breguet Marine 5817BE/Z2/5V8 Bulgari Collection Daniel Roth Endurer Chronosprint Clerc Hydroscaph Big Date Power Reserve Concord C1 Big Date Davidoff Very Zino Dual Time Big Date F.P. Journe Octa Réserve Frank Muller Cintrée Curvex Limited Edition Jaquet Droz Majestic Beijing Grande Date Ivory Enamel Kari Voutilainen Perpetual Calendar Observatoire Maurice Lacroix Miros Sport Mondaine Evo Gents Big Date Montres De Luxe Classicone Tag Heuer Grand Carrera 8RS Grande Date GMT Tudor Glamour Double D
Very nice first post and particularly interesting to see the various combinations of numbers, mechanism and disk designs and orientations to display the final two-digit date. Your post demonstrates the variety of solutions to the Grand Date display. I wonder which one takes up the least space within a movement, allowing the manufacture to place the display in different positions? I particularly like the appearance of rectangular date windows in rectangular watches, such as the Reverso. I like ma
It seems to have faded into obsurity... but that takes nothing away from this very well balanced example: As I've stated before... I'm bewildered why there aren't any other examples like it.
I find the Laureato Evo3 moon to be one of the best looking big dates in the market, so does the Breguet Marine.
Welcome here, first. As for your question, my favourite big date is between JLC and Lange... Hmmmmm...Lange, with the Datograph, closely followed by JLC with the 70eme. Then, I would say... The U.N Sonata. The funny thing is that I didn't buy these watches for the Grande Date, but for the Alarm ( Sonata ), the 8 Days Power Reserve ( JLC Reverso 70eme ), and the Chronograph ( Datograph ). But the other funny thing is that the Grande Date is somehting you first see on these watches. Great post, in
When I hear the mention of big dates, I immediately think of ALS. cheers fernando
This thread is active on the Horological Meandering forum with 35 replies. Share your knowledge with fellow collectors.
Join the Discussion →
