On a fake Audemars Piguet, the word complication describes a look more often than a mechanism. Chronographs work. Moonphase and perpetual calendar dials mostly do not. A replica can print a month subdial and a leap year hand and still run a plain date wheel underneath. If function matters, judge the movement before the dial.
What "complication" means on a replica AP
A complication is any display beyond hours, minutes and seconds. On a Royal Oak or Royal Oak Offshore that covers chronograph registers, moonphase, annual and perpetual calendars, GMT, power reserve, tourbillon, and the rare minute repeater. Replica makers chase all of them because the dial sells the watch. The mechanism behind that dial is a separate purchase decision, and often a separate price tier.
Which complications actually work
- Chronograph. This one works. Most replica Royal Oak Offshores run a Valjoux 7750 pattern or a Chinese clone of it, so start, stop and reset behave like the real thing. Expect rotor wobble, a thicker case, and pushers that feel softer than AP's own.
- Date and GMT. Reliable on mid tier replicas. Quick set date works. A 24 hour hand tracks a second time zone if the movement is a true GMT and not a decorated one.
- Tourbillon. Chinese tourbillons are real. The cage rotates, the escapement is visible, and it keeps time. It is not an AP tourbillon, and the finishing under a loupe shows it.
- Power reserve indicator. Sometimes functional, frequently a printed arc tied to nothing. Ask for a photo with the watch fully wound down.
- Moonphase. In most cases a 24 hour day/night disc with a moon printed on it. It rotates once a day, not once every 29.5 days.
- Perpetual calendar. The dial shows day, date, month, often a leap year pointer. The movement underneath is normally a simple or annual calendar module. It will not carry February correctly across a leap year.
- Minute repeater. If someone offers a working repeater at replica pricing, it is not a repeater.
How to test a complication before you pay
Ask for a short video, not photos. On a chronograph, watch the seconds hand start from zero and snap back on reset. On a moonphase, advance the date 30 times and see whether the moon moves one step or thirty. On a calendar, set the watch to February 28 and advance it. A real annual or perpetual calendar jumps to March 1 on its own. A simple module needs the crown.
Check case thickness as well. A 7750 based chronograph sits taller than an in-house AP caliber, and a replica claiming a thin profile with a working chronograph is often hiding quartz. Subdial spacing gives it away. On a quartz chrono, the small hands tick once per second.
Movement reality check
Audemars Piguet builds its own calibers, and its perpetual calendar and tourbillon work is hand finished to a standard no replica shop reproduces. Replica factories start from a small pool of movements: the 7750 family for chronographs, the 2824 and 2892 patterns for three hand models, and Dandong or Seagull based tourbillons for openwork pieces. Everything else on the dial is decoration. That is not a knock on the chronograph replicas, which can be solid daily wearers. It is a warning about paying calendar money for a calendar that does not exist.
What to ask a seller
- Which movement is inside, and who makes it.
- Does the moonphase track 29.5 days or 24 hours.
- Is the calendar annual, perpetual, or a date wheel behind printed subdials.
- Case diameter and thickness in millimeters.
- A video of the complication being operated, not a stock clip.
The honest summary: buy a fake Audemars Piguet chronograph if you want the look and a working pusher. Treat calendar, moonphase and repeater replicas as costume dials, and price them that way.