Patek Philippe Pocket Watch
1947

Grand Complications: Art of the Watchmaker examines how the production of timepieces has always combined a technical skill of the maker with a visual elegance. The scale of the watch amplifies these skills. Fine watchmakers have always combined both technical expertise and artistic awareness in the designs of their watches. As the market grew more competitive, so did the need to enhance and improve watches in both their mechanics and appearance. Through this presentation of watches from early pocket watches to the modern wristwatch, the artistic and technical skills of the watchmaker is seen.

The art and design of wristwatches has a language all its own. It’s a language that very few people outside the watch making industry, collecting aficionados and horological scholars understand. The National Watch & Clock Museum’s Grand Complications exhibit will, through the presentation of a wide range of watches from the earliest pocket watches to modern wristwatches, translate this language for our Museum visitors. Visitors will discover not only the lingo of watch making, but also the skill of the watch maker in both the technical creation of watches and the design of how to present time to the wearer.

Click here to view images from the exhibit

Thomas Tompion Pocket Watch
c. 1699

Roger W. Smith Pocket Watch #2
1992-1997

Ulysse Nardin "Freak" Wristwatch
2004