What exactly is a perpetual calendar watch?

Why can the perpetual calendar watch become the "holy grail watch" or the ultimate goal of life for watch lovers? This will give you a detailed analysis of the fascinating details behind the perpetual calendar, which is one of the three complex functions of the watchmaking industry and its historical story.

What is a perpetual calendar?

Perpetual calendar, also known as the abbreviation of QP French calendar, is one of the three complex functions of advanced watchmaking. Mechanical watches can basically be divided into ordinary calendar function, annual calendar function and perpetual calendar function.

Different from calendars with less than 365,438+0 days in a year, or calendars that can distinguish between large and small months but must be manually adjusted on March 65,438+0 every year, the perpetual calendar mechanism not only considers all the different dates of 65,438+02 months every year, but also considers leap years that occur every four years, which seems to have a "mechanical memory" of hundreds of years.

The seemingly simple date display mechanism contains great challenges in structure and technology. Creating a perpetual calendar device requires hundreds of components, which is why watch lovers regard it as a dream yi pin.

Patek Philippe 5327J (Patek Philippe)

Interestingly, despite the name of the perpetual calendar, according to the Gregorian calendar, 300 years out of every 400 years are not leap years, so the perpetual calendar we are starting now still needs to be manually adjusted by 2 100 years. After a lapse of 78 years, it should also be our children's or grandchildren's turn to adjust it in the watch shop; As Patek Philippe's classic advertisement says: "No one really owns Patek Philippe, but only leaves it to the next generation."

The history of the perpetual calendar?

Can you imagine, it's like a mechanical brain executing a complicated and detailed mechanism with set operating rules, which was published as early as 1762.

The first person to make a perpetual calendar pocket watch in history is Thomas mutch, a watchmaker from England (also the inventor of the lever escapement). He made 1762 and 1764 perpetual calendar pocket watches, which are also collected by the British Museum and Patek Philippe Museum.

The first perpetual calendar pocket watch in the British Museum (Source: research.britishmuseum.org)

Speaking of perpetual calendar watches, it is naturally the first brand that comes to mind. The page of the first perpetual calendar watch in history really came from Patek Philippe watchmaking workshop.

Sketch of the first perpetual calendar movement (Patek Philippe)

In fact, as early as 1898, the brand launched a ladies' pendant watch with a perpetual calendar movement, but unfortunately it has never found a suitable candidate. It was not until 1925 that the brand put this movement into the gold watch again, and the first perpetual calendar watch in history was born.

Patek Philippe 97975, the first perpetual calendar watch in history.

Since then, and the two major watchmaking workshops have also launched watches with perpetual calendar movements made by brands in 1929 and 1937 respectively.

In addition, it also plays an indispensable role in the development history of modern perpetual calendar watches. Audemars piguet is the first watchmaker in history to set the leap year display on the perpetual calendar. Although it did not lead other watchmakers to follow suit in the 1980s, most of the perpetual calendar watches we see today are equipped with such a display screen.

Airbnb ref 55 16 (Phillips)

The important brand that has to be mentioned in the history of perpetual calendar development is Leonardo da Vinci's perpetual calendar chronograph ref. /kloc-35.7 million calendar chronograph released in 0/985. This perpetual calendar watch was designed by Kurt Klaus, a famous brand legendary watchmaker. It abandoned the perpetual calendar mechanism that usually needs multiple buttons to adjust, and improved it into a revolutionary invention, which can be adjusted by winding the crown.

1998 iwc da Vinci perpetual calendar tourbillon watch (iwc)