5 Desirable Perpetual Calendar Watches

The world’s earliest horological devices were actually calendars, helping societies to track the passage of time and the movement of the heavens. Predictability is the hallmark of all calendar system functionality and in miniaturized form. Mechanical calendars which take into consideration irregular occurrences like leap years are prized among collectors for their beauty and complexity.  Here are some top picks.

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month
IWC’s complex in-house made caliber 89801 movement takes on a new graceful appearance in the brand’s Portugieser family of watches. 45mm wide on the wrist and strictly limited to a total of 175 pieces, the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month watch incorporates both a full 12 hour chronograph with an extremely legible perpetual calendar that uses clear, large dial windows to indicate what calendar information most users need, on a regular basis.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique Perpetual Calendar

Perpetual calendar watches often struggle when it comes to elegantly displaying a diverse set of information that can include elements such as the phase of the moon as well as the current year. Strict design discipline as well as technical ingenuity are often the answer. Jaeger-LeCoultre offers an extremely robust calendar display as well as tourbillon equipped with a cylindrical balance spring in this version of the Master Grande Tradition watch.

Ulysse Nardin Perpetual Manufacture

Now entirely produced in-house the simply named “Perpetual Calendar” watch by Ulysse Nardin takes a more classic design approach despite the brand’s penchant for vocal, sometimes avant-garde visual designs. Ulysse Nardin takes great pride in both the simple legibility of its perpetual calendar display which uses all windows, as well as the system’s uncommonly simple information adjustment feature that they refer to as “the most consumer friendly.”

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 41mm

Now in the updated 41mm wide Royal Oak case (in both gold and steel materials), the famed Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar watch is back with a fresh yet familiar look and Audemars Piguet’s uniquely tweaked perpetual calendar display which symmetrically offers all the right information as well as a less common “week of the year” hand.

Hublot Big Bang Chrono Perpetual Calendar

The Hublot Big Bang collection is the poster child of modern luxury sport watch success.  Often appealing to more adventurous watch lovers who want to integrate fine horology into their lifestyle, such timepieces remain visually and functionally distinct from the more conservative watches coveted by more traditional collectors.  So how does the “fusion” brand Hublot connect these two worlds? By producing a very classic perpetual calendar with moon phase and chronograph complication into a modern Big Bang timepiece.