Normally, we are accustomed to seeing the hands make a full circle on the watch face for whatever information they are supposed to provide, except of course for the indication of the power reserve, or rather remaining autonomy. Alternatively, however, in order not to overfill an already crowded dial, or perhaps to impress with their technical excellence and inventiveness, some manufacturers make the hand make a single arc instead of a full revolution. Once it has reached the end of the numbering, in fact, the hand will snap back to start a new run. The retrograde hand is most frequently used for the date display, but there is no shortage of examples of the normal hours and minutes shown on sector scales instead of along the more usual 360°. The technical complication lies in the trigger mechanism for the return of the hands: whereas previously a single gear wheel connected by the normal gear train was sufficient for that indication, now with the retrograde, springs are needed for the return and a different gear ratio. All with additional design costs and the technical difficulty in positioning these extra parts on the movement. The Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Moon Retrograde is equipped with a retrograde date display at 10 o'clock.
