2024 is a leap year, requiring the extra day of February 29 to keep times and dates aligned with the movement of our planet around the sun over a four year period.
Leap years exist because a single year in the Gregorian calendar is slightly shorter than a solar, or tropical, year — the amount of time it takes for Earth to completely orbit the sun once — so every fourth year we get an extra day.
February 29 is notable for those who were born on the date, but barely noticed by the rest of us who adjust automatically whether a month is 28, 29, 30 or 31 days.
But mechanical watches with annual calendar complications do not take the leap year in their stride. They need to know whether we are in the first, second, third or fourth year in a cycle.
This is what perpetual calendars achieve.
English watchmaker Thomas Mudge is credited with designing the earliest perpetual calendar pocket watch in 1762, but Patek Philippe patented the first wristwatch in 1889.
A perpetual calendar movement needs a mechanical memory of 1,461 days to display the day, date and month without being adjusted over four year cycles. This can require up to 200 additional parts, and was once the preserve of only the most sophisticated watchmakers.
Even today, producing an in-house perpetual calendar movement is a prerequisite for a place at the high table of horologists.
With February 29 fast approaching, WatchPro asked experts from around the world to share their thoughts on perpetual calendars and identify their favourite models.
Johnny Davis, deputy editor, Esquire UK
A.Lange & Söhne 1815 Rattrapante Perpetual Calendar (ref. 421.056)
If there’s one design that embodies timekeeping on a cosmic scale, it’s the 1815 — the line that still proudly displays its pocket watch DNA and the sort of watch you imagine Peter Capaldi’s dapper Doctor Who might wear. Let’s go all-in for the LE white gold rattrapante from 2023. It was POA, as per Lange lore, but estimates suggest £250k. So you’ll need until March 2100 to save up.
Genna Zimmer, vice president of operations and strategy at Reeds Jewelers
IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Watch IW503302
Aesthetically, this IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar is one of the most attractive timepieces out there. Beyond the looks, I love the user-friendliness of the IWC perpetual calendars with the sychronisation of the calendar displays.
Alistair Audley, CEO, Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers
George Daniels Grand Complication
For me it’s George Daniels’ Grand Complication pocket watch, which has an instantaneous perpetual calendar mechanism with retrograde date, indication of leap-year cycle, and an annual calendar ring. I once saw George’s drawing of the watch at Roger Smith’s workshop and commented: “It’s unbelievable to think George could create such a watch from this pencil drawing?” Roger replied: “No, he only did the drawing after he built the watch. He just worked out the build in his head…!”
Rob Corder, co-founder of WatchPro
Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual Calendar (Ref No. FC-775BL4NH6B)
I am divided over whether perpetual calendar watches should shout about their complexity with a feature-packed dial like a Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris or keep it subtle as we see in Moser’s Endeavour or even Patek Philippe’s In-line Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5236P.
I have ultimately gone for a piece I may be able to afford before the end of this century (when even perpetual calendars will need to be corrected because of a missing leap year in 2100), the steel-on-steel Frederique Constant Highlife, which I would buy with a deep blue dial for a mere £8,395 and never take it off.
Elizabeth Smith Hrubala, managing director, Oliver Smith Jeweler
Panerai Luminor Perpetual Calendar Platinumtech (ref. PAM00715)
It has to be Panerai’s new PAM00715 because the movement is true to the brand and easy to operate. Only the day and date from the calendar are on the front.
You should be able to remember the month and year, so those are strategically on the back as to not interfere with Panerai’s clean design aesthetic. Available now for £60,800.
Roberto Chiapelloni, owner, Manfredi Jewels
Urban Jurgensen
Reference 2
Urban Jurgensen’s Reference 2 in platinum is a classic 38mm size with legible day and month windows, and an iconic Derek Pratt guilloche dial. It is powered by an ultra-slim, beautifully finished Fredric Piguet-based automatic perpetual calendar movement with a 21ct gold winding rotor. Only 50 in platinum are thought to have been made in the 1990s.
Robert Weintraub, head of watches, Manfredi Jewels
Glashütte Original Senator Excellence
My choice is the Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar ref. 1-36-12-03-02-64. This is a very legible choice and an incredible value for a completely in-house perpetual calendar with a cool galvanized grey dial at $21,900.
If budget were of no concern, I would choose the Breguet Marine Grand Complication with running equation of time, perpetual calendar, and tourbillon (ref. 5887PT/Y2/9WV).
This incredible watch has a unique wave pattern, hand guilloche dial and mixes modern, sporty elements with classic high horology complications for a unique wearing experience.
One more worth mentioning is the Ulysse Nardin GMT +/- Perpetual Calendar reference 320-22/32. This is one of the easiest perpetual calendars to use and can be set forwards and backwards. It also has a +/- GMT function and is a classic size of 38.5mm.
Tracey Llewellyn, editor of WatchPro and Telegraph Time
ochs und junior perpetual calendar
Contrary to almost every other version in existence, the ochs und junior perpetual calendar indication is pared right back in line with master watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin’s vision of finding the simplest solution to every problem. Unconventional in layout, using the watch quickly becomes second nature.
Around the dial edge are 30+1 holes that display the date – each 10-minute index marking five days. The month disc at the dial centre rotates clockwise and as it turns the outermost of its four perforations points to the month – when it is aligned with 1 o’clock it is January, at 2 o’clock it is February and so on. When this outer dot is orange, it is a leap year. When it is black it is a 365-day year.
Power reserve is indicated on the disc below the 12 o’clock position – full power is shown when the dot is below the right-hand marker, low power when it is below the left.
Minutes are read via the date holes – even minutes represented by the holes and odd by the gaps. The rotating disc above 6 o’clock is the seconds indicator and shows that the watch is running.
While the base movement is the Ulysse Nardin UN-118, Oechslin has – through a unique system of gears – been able to reduce the number of additional parts for the perpetual calendar to nine. This allows for easy setting via the winding crown while, according to Oechslin, less components lead to greater reliability and simpler servicing, hence the ochs und junior parts come with a lifetime guarantee.
Considering the brilliance and innovation in this piece, the starting price is an astonishingly low CHF 23,358 (a degree of customisation is available and pushes this up slightly).
Sadly, however, only about 15 watches can be produced each year so the chance to own this model, that was designed by the man behind Ulysse Nardin’s Freak and Perpetual GMT (the first perpetual calendar where the date can be adjusted backwards and forwards), is slim.
Adam Craniotes, founder and president, Redbar
IWC Top Gun Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar
IWC’s iconic Kurt Klaus-designed perpetual calendar movement remains one of my all-time favourites for its ease of use, generous power reserve, and expansive dial replete with its trademark digital year indicator.
Toss it in a Big Pilot case crafted from ceramic and titanium — two materials whose use in watchmaking was pioneered by the Schaffhausen-based manufacture — and you have what is possibly the most “IWC” watch extant. To this end, the (over the) Top Gun Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar has been a mainstay of my collection for over a decade and goes with me to the bitter end.
