The World’s Most Complicated Timepiece: The Aeternitas Mega Grande Sonnerie Westminster Carillon by Franck Muller

Last November 2009, uber luxury watchmaker Franck Muller held an historic event—the delivery of the first Franck Muller Aeternitas Mega Grande Sonnerie Westminster Carillon, the world’s most complicated wristwatch.

The development of the Aeternitas Mega was a project five years in the making, using the talent, dedication, passion, and technical “savoir faire” of the famed company’s master watchmakers. This stunning watch includes 36 complications, 25 of which are visible on the dial and on the back, composed of 1,483 individual components.

Mr. Michael J. Gould, a passionate watch collector from Colorado, purchased this immaculate piece for a record breaking $2.7 million—in fact, the Aeternitas Mega was the most expensive timepiece ever sold outside of watch auctions. He arrived to the salon Empire in the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo straight off of his private jet, family in friends in tow, to receive the newest piece in his impressive collection. Along with his entourage Mr. Gould was personally given the Aeternitas Mega from Mr. Franck Muller and Mr. Vartan Sirmakes, the cofounders of Franck Muller Manufacture.

To celebrate this outstanding occasion, 400 guests from all over the world, including dignitaries from the Monegasque government, gathered at the salon.