Patek Philippe created in 1932 the 24 Complications the super complication watch made for Henry Graves Jr. A New York banker. It cost $15.000 in 1932, auctioned by Sotheby’s Geneva Nov 2014. For Swiss Francs 20.000.000. What a gain in 82 years…..

Published November 13, 2014

The most complicated handmade watch, the Henry Graves Supercomplication, has been sold at auction for 20.6m Swiss francs (£13.4m), writes Luke Jones. A "complication" is a technical term referring to any feature on a watch which is in addition to simply telling the time - and Henry Graves Jr wanted more than anyone else. The Supercomplication, made by Patek Philippe in 1932, has 24 of them including Westminster chimes, a perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset times, and a celestial map of New York as seen from Graves's apartment on Fifth Avenue.

Patek Philippe. The most complicated handmade watch, the Henry Graves Supercomplication, has been sold at auction for 20.6m Swiss francs (£13.4m)
A “complication” is a technical term referring to any feature on a watch which is in addition to simply telling the time – and Henry Graves Jr the New York Banker wanted more than anyone else.
The Supercomplication, made by Patek Philippe in 1932, has 24 of them including Westminster chimes, a perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset times, and a celestial map of New York as seen from Graves’s apartment on Fifth Avenue. Patek Philippe took 7 years to craft this exceptional watch. In the 1920s & 1930s the watch makers were the star engineers of their day, before automobiles became so popular………….This watch was not surpassed until 1989 when Patek Philippe created a watch with 33 complications…….