Why does the moonphase exist?

So I can hit on druid girls? I dunno. Probably b/c the mechanics of telling time for human beings has always been inextricably linked to astronomy for thousands of years. Our earliest ways of telling the time were solar or lunar in nature. And then our earliest calendars took into account the position of the known planets. I imagine that for a watchmaker it's kind of a way of connecting their artistry and mechanical expertise with our oldest relationship with time.

Here is a link to an article about why they were used in clocks. I think it migrated to watches as it was a complication people knew and understood and watch makers added it to show their skills.

https://edinaclock.com/clock-repair-faq/so-what-is-the-moon-thing-supposed-to-do-on-my-clock-dial/

For the obvious reasons!

Would you happen to have a link or product name?

Farming cycles, fishing cycles, animal migration, astronomy, etc. Is it useful? For most no, but it is another complication and looks better than others.

Look at this moonphase and tell me it does not bring joy that more negative space doesn’t:

Or the way the PanoMaticLunar‘s orbits the time.

Again, are either useful? Nah, but are they awesome? Yep.

Genius 👍🏾

Tide and surf reasons

I occasionally want to know how much moonlight there will be outside at night. It has been mentioned that one can track menstrual cycles. My be useful if one believes a full moon creates erratic behavior.

Trying to find logical use from an illogical collection sounds like a setup for failure. For me personally, more often then not a lot of this "thing" is mainly because "why the hell not". If I was focused on necessity I would have stopped at my first quartz watch decades ago.

So you know when to be on the lookout for this alabaster moron.

Full moon is linked to spring tides so very useful if you are affected by spring tides and the possibility of flooding especially when pared with a storm surge. I stay at the top of a hill HOWEVER each time i see a full moon i check the weatherforcast and check against our vessels in drydock. It wouldnt be the firstime the sea came over the top of the dock gates!

Do we need to explain and justify beautiful things?

It can help tell tides which back a few hundred years ago was quite useful for fishing,sailing etc

In the digital age, almost all complications are useless, so I'd just sit back and enjoy the watch.

Time is a construct… The moon is a constant in the nights sky. It’s the only complication I use…😂😂😂

Aside from the clearly useful warning about upcoming lycanthropy 🐺, I live on a tidal river and like to be aware of upcoming tide levels, so a moonphase is useful to me, likely not all!

One of my favorite complications regardless 🌝

i mean you could take this line of reasoning to argue against Mechanical watches.

if all you need is a "useful" watch, a quartz will cover you 10 out of 10 times

it exists today because solely because people find it pretty. that's good enough imo.

It’s made for Saiyan people

They're referred to as complications for a reason.

True but there had to be some point in time where they were more than just aesthetic and I wanna know how it came about then

Still more useful and more aesthetic than a tourbillion. 🍻

Because this watch, The Andreas Strehler Sauterelle à Lune Perpétuelle 2M! is accurate for moonphases for 2,060,757 years. That’s fantastic engineering and very cool. The mechanics of a moonphase are amazing and that’s why I love watches.

Just look at the result of the poll on this subject matter and you'll realize why. 😂

https://www.watchcrunch.com/rodeenski/posts/what-is-a-moonphase-complication-to-you-46608

I object! Full moon makes my sleep worse. It's good to know when you're gonna be knackered.

Rosh Chodesh and Kiddush Levana

Very useful for Ramadan, I admit. Or when fishing.

For me personally, all the complications of my watches only serve to hypnotize me by admiring them, to be honest, when have we really needed any complication in a watch today?

I live around Seattle. I rarely see the moon. When we do (last night), it’s a treat. The expression around here is either “The Moon is out” or “The Mountain is out”. That’s Rainier/Tahoma for everyone else.

My Muslim friend has a moonphase for his religious needs. I like them to confirm if I’ll be sleeping well or not. My MD friends used it to see if she what kind of night she will have in the OR.