When it comes to practical use, a moon phase complication doesn’t score very high. Unless you are an amateur astronomer, it will probably not be information that you use on a regular basis, if at all. However, when you ask about the favorite complications of a watch connoisseur, the moon phase ranks surprisingly high.
In fact, a moon phase can change the whole look of a watch. A. Lange & Söhne’s signature watch, the Lange 1, is a very tempting piece, to begin with, but the Lange 1 Moon Phase adds just that little bit more. Even when it is not the most functional complication, visually it makes quite an impact.
Perhaps this is also a bit of nostalgia, seeing the moon on the dial of your watch. It brings you back to the earlier days of watchmaking when this was among one of the first complications to be developed. Almost all the great brands have at least one moon phase model available in their collection. Like Jaeger-LeCoultre, they are commonly housed in their most iconic cases, such as the Reverso.
Some brands even give the complication center stage, such as Jaquet Droz. In fact, with their Grande Second Moon, the moon phase is even larger than the dial displaying the hours and minutes. It allows them to show the moon itself in great detail.
But as Hublot proved, it is not only the classically styled watches that look good with a moon phase. Their Big Bang Perpetual Calendar Sapphire puts the moon phase as a dash of color in a fully transparent watch, making it, even more, an eye catcher then it already it. It shows that the moon phase also has a place is contemporarily styled watches and that the complication itself has a timeless appeal as we move forward to the future!
