This is quite possibly the most sophisticated and refined watch in the world. It’s a tourbillon, made by Patek Philippe, which is the finest watchmaker in the world. They are the Bentley to Rolex’s BMW.

If you doubt me, go read about it.

The “Sky Moon Tourbillon” Ref. 5002 is the first double-faced wristwatch that features a complete presentation of the nocturnal sky on its reverse side. The masterpiece displays the apparent movements of the stars, the orbit of the moon, the moon phases, as well as the hours and minutes in sidereal time.

As was already the case with the Star Caliber 2000, Patek Philippe’s goal in the development of the “Sky Moon Tourbillon” was not so much the number of complications per se. The real objective was to accommodate the most fascinating complications in the small case of a wristwatch: a perpetual calendar with a retrograde date display, a minute repeater, a tourbillon, the display of sidereal time, and a depiction of the nocturnal sky with the motion of the stars, the orbit of the moon, and the moon phases.

The acoustic indication of hours, quarter-hours, and minutes is and undoubtedly remains one of the most spectacular functions that a wristwatch can possess. When the slide on the left of the case is activated, the repeater first strikes the number of hours on a low-tone gong, followed by the quarter-hours with double strikes on the low-tone and a higher-tone gong, and finally by the number of minutes which have elapsed since the last quarter-hour on the higher-tone gong. In the “Sky Moon Tourbillon”, this chime is implemented in a rare and fascinating manner. In the comparatively small volume of a wristwatch, it is extremely difficult to generate a clear and rich-sounding tone.

A few years ago, after intensive collaboration with metallurgists of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Patek Philippe succeeded in developing an alloy for gongs that create a particularly resonant sound. In the meantime, this alloy has been refined, making it possible to produce a special gong that can be more than one case circumference long. It is called “cathedral gong” because it renders the hour strike with a rich, full-bodied tone that like the bells in a cathedral reverberates for a particularly long period of time.

I do love beautiful things.

For most people of a materialistic nature, “better” is always superior to great. This is a problem because there’s always something better. If there isn’t now, it’ll be out in six months. So if you ever want to be happy, focus on what you have that’s “great”, and forget about what could be an improvement over it.

Another way to look at it is to view happiness as being about relative changes, i.e. becoming more or less content with your situation. If you accept that view, it becomes important to maintain relatively modest and static expectations if you want to be happy. Then, as your material situation improves it will continue to pull away from your expectations, and you’ll become more happy. But if you let your expectations follow you as you progress, you’ll always be in search of the elusive duo — better and more.

Tom The Cool Guy

A good example of this is Tom the cool guy who has a beautiful wife, a nice C-Class Mercedes, and a 3-bedroom house in a good neighborhood. He’s quite happy with this situation because he’s never had these things before. But now he’s getting a promotion and a whole lot more money. He decides to move to the “really” nice neighborhood.

Suddenly, all the wives are better looking — so he’s not as happy with his anymore. His C-Class Mercedes is now being laughed at by people as he drives by, and all the houses in this area are at least 4-bedrooms. Now his baseline has shifted; what he was happy with just two weeks ago is now sub-standard. That would have been fine if he wanted it to happen, but the odds are that it was completely subconscious.

As a result, Tom won’t be ever be happy again until he “upgrades” somehow, and that is the never-ending road to an empty, shallow existence. He’ll always be looking at the houses up the hill — pining for them. He’ll get a 5-Series BMW and hate it within a month because some guy up the street (with a prettier wife) has a 7-Series.

Enough

I think the trick to capturing “enough” is to not let it change without your permission. Enough should be relatively static, and should only change after a long, hard internal debate. This is important because if enough is less than your reality then you tend to be happy, but as soon as it creeps up above reality you have problems. Don’t let it creep.