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The most complete perpetual calendar download and installation, the genuine old calendar download

The most complete installation of the perpetual calendar

Friends who have a little interest in watches, must have heard of the watch "three major complications" one of the perpetual calendar. Its English name is "Perpetual calendar", which directly translates to "permanent calendar", taking the meaning that its calendar display is always synchronized with reality - at least until 2100. At least until the year 2100.

01 Rules of synchronization

Some of you may ask, is the watch we usually wear (the date) not synchronized with reality?

That's not true.

As we all know, there are 12 months in a year, with seven 31-day months, four 30-day months, and a 28- or 29-day month in February - in short, each month is different in length.

And the calendar dials in mechanical watches, without exception, are labeled with the numbers 1 through 31, and by default rotate once every 31 days. If, for example, your watch showed the 28th yesterday and you haven't calibrated the date today, its calendar will show the 29th at this moment, not the 1st of March in reality.

Watches with annual and perpetual calendars, by contrast, have a much higher IQ. In particular, the mechanical system of the perpetual calendar not only distinguishes between large and small months, but also between equal and leap years, and at the end of each month it can switch itself from the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st to the 1st of the following month, which is very art.

Of course, the so-called perpetual or permanent calendars are just an exaggeration. Because our current calendar is leaping every 4 years, not leaping for 100 years, and leaping again for 400 years, the latter two are just too demanding on the brain circuits, so the vast majority of perpetual calendars can only be realized as 4-year leaps, and by the end of February in the year 2100 they will need to be manually adjusted.

According to historical records, the perpetual calendar was first invented in the 18th century, before the other "two major watch complications" - the flywheel and the minute repeater. This does not mean that the structure of the former is simpler and easier to realize than the latter, but because the early people have an urgent need for various display functions related to the calendar (at that time, not everyone was familiar with the calendar), and the perpetual calendar precisely to meet the needs of the people, and at the same time, make them free from the pain of correcting the date, which is said to have an unparalleled practical significance.

By the middle of the 19th century, perpetual calendars were enjoying a boom. At that time, the complication pocket watches were especially favored by the European royalty, the so-called "on something good, the next must be even", the top Swiss and German watchmakers and watchmakers have come up with their own finale stunts. For example, Patek Philippe accepted the order of Princess Luisa Fernanda around 1866, and customized a pocket watch with a perpetual calendar, moon phase display and retrograde hands in one complication, with the coat of arms of the Princess and her husband engraved on the case.

Patek Philippe Pocket Watch with Perpetual Calendar for Princess Luisa Fernanda

When wristwatches appeared on the scene, perpetual calendars were first transplanted directly from pocket-watch calibers into wristwatches by means of a "pocket-watch conversion". Then, in 1929, the economic crisis in the United States led to a global recession, and many traditional Swiss watchmakers went out of business or ended their research and development of complication watches, so there are very few brands of perpetual calendar watches in history.

The first Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar wristwatch, launched in 1925, was equipped with the women's caliber 97975 pocket watch movement

Patek Philippe, taken over by the Stern family, was the only remaining holdout, with a succession of Perpetual Calendars combining chronographs with self-winding and leap year displays.

Throughout the 20th century, Patek Philippe's perpetual calendars have been a "one of a kind" in the world of fine watchmaking in terms of their number, density and functionality.

In 1962, Patek Philippe launched the Ref. 3448 Automatic Perpetual Calendar, which is now sold for millions of dollars at auctions

02 A million rules, one for the thinnest of them all

In 1985, when mechanical watches entered a new era after the quartz crisis, Patek Philippe launched a watch that rekindled their popularity. Patek Philippe launched the Ref. 3940 Ultra-Thin Automatic Perpetual Calendar, which rekindled interest in complicated mechanical watches.

The Caliber 240 Q ultra-thin perpetual calendar movement, with a diameter of 27.5 millimeters and a thickness of only 3.88 millimeters, not only indicates the day of the week, the date, the month, and the moon phases, but also comes with a 24-hour hand and a leap year display.

The Caliber 240 Q ultra-thin perpetual calendar and its accompanying models have also become a benchmark in the industry.

Most of today's perpetual calendars are self-winding and also tend to be on the slimmer side. This is not only for aesthetic reasons, but also from the perspective of everyday wear.

Because perpetual calendars are fundamentally a "lazy man's philosophy", allowing the wearer to use them for long periods of time without having to adjust the calendar. But if the watch itself is too heavy to fit into the cuff of a shirt that you wear every day, or if it needs to be wound manually from time to time, the experience will be compromised.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar (Ref. 5740), which was launched last year, is fitted with the Caliber 240 Q automatic movement, which is just 8.42 millimeters thick

The world's thinnest automatic perpetual calendar is currently the Royal Oak Concept RD#2, which Audemars Piguet released last year. thicknesses of only 2.89 millimeters and 6.3 millimeters respectively.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept RD#2

This year, Audemars Piguet unveiled CODE11.59, another core collection in addition to the Royal Oak, which includes a perpetual calendar. It is optimized for the Calibre 5134, which is thin enough to be in the top three automatic perpetual calendar movements.

Audemars Piguet CODE 11.59 Perpetual Calendar Automatic

The brilliant dial is made of aventurine, with black copper oxide and cobalt incorporated into the glass to create the effect of stars twinkling in the deep blue of the universe.

Jaeger-LeCoultre's Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar enamel watch is fitted with the ultra-thin Perpetual Calendar automatic caliber 868, which not only has a long power reserve of 70 hours, but also allows for the synchronized adjustment of all the perpetual calendar displays via the crown, which is very easy to operate.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Ultra-Thin Automatic Perpetual Calendar Enamel

With a diameter of 39 millimeters and a thickness of only 10.44 millimeters, this watch is undeniably comfortable to wear.

Vacheron Constantin's Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar in Vacheron Constantin, with its 41.5 mm case in pink gold, is simply beautiful with its slim 8.1 mm body and translucent silver dial.

The Vacheron Constantin Longitude Extra-Thin Perpetual Calendar

Inside is the brand's in-house caliber 1120 QP, with a 22-carat gold pendulum adorned with a wind rose compass motif.

03 One of the many rules of the game

The functionality of the Perpetual Calendar is such that it is better to run it for long periods of time, to avoid running out of power, which would be very difficult to do if it were to stop.

Want to run the state, just hope that the owner of the uninterrupted, every day to the watch "winding" is unrealistic. Once the watch is left at home after a weekend in the countryside or at the beach, the power will not be sustained. That's why one of the major trends in perpetual calendars today is to make the "standby time" as long as possible, so that at the very least it can sit around for a weekend without stopping.

The Glashütte Perpetual Calendar is based on the new generation of self-winding Caliber 36, which is not only highly efficiently wound with a bi-material automatic (edged in 21-carat gold), but also has a standby time of more than four days.

When it comes to long power, Universal's "7-day chain" can't be left behind. The Spitfire Large Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar, newly released this year, features a bronze case with an olive green dial and gold-plated hands, which is a completely different style from the generally elegant perpetual calendar watches.

The Spitfire Large Pilot's Watch Perpetual Calendar Automatic

Inside, the in-house automatic Manufacture Vanguard caliber 52615 is fitted with a ceramic Billiton self-winding system and features a double barrel and a 7-day (168-hour) power reserve, which is Huawei cell phone-like in terms of longevity. Its small seconds hand is also equipped with a stopwatch function, and all the date displays can be synchronized via the crown, making it very easy to use.

Vacheron Constantin's newest development, the 7-day bracelet, which is already very impressive, takes a back seat to Vacheron Constantin's latest development.

Vacheron Constantin's Heritage Dual Rate Perpetual Calendar

This Heritage Dual Rate Perpetual Calendar introduces a completely new concept, whereby the movement switches between a high frequency of 5 Hz (36,000 vibrations/hour) and a low frequency of 1.2 Hz (8,640 vibrations/hour), depending on the user's needs (worn or unused), without interfering with the movement's running time. (8,640 vibrations/hour), without interfering with the movement's running time. The former lasts for four days, while the latter lasts for an astonishing 65 days. During this period, the watch's timekeeping and the perpetual calendar displays remain functional.

04 One of the many rules of the game

Perpetual calendars can be divided into several categories, depending on how they are adjusted.

Firstly, there is the traditional perpetual calendar, which is usually equipped with four function correction knobs on the side of the case, corresponding to the "traditional elements" of a perpetual calendar: the calendar, the weekly calendar, the month, the moon phases, and the flat leap year (which is linked to the month and usually does not have a separate correction knob), and which are adjusted using the original pen tool.

It is precisely because the perpetual calendar adjustment process is more cumbersome and taboo that we emphasize that it is better not to stop the watch.

Baume & Mercier's Clifton Baumatic Perpetual Calendar realizes the juxtaposition of high complications and affordability

And many perpetual calendars nowadays improve on the traditional ones, such as Lange's Langematik Perpetual Calendar.

Lange's Langematik Perpetual Perpetual Calendar in Honey Gold

Not only does it have hidden buttons all around the case for the independent adjustment of the calendar entries, but it also has a hidden overall adjustment button at 10 o'clock, which allows all the calendar entries to be moved forward by one day at the push of a button, making short-term adjustment steps (such as stopping for two or three days, for example) much simpler. This simplifies short-term adjustments (such as stopping for two or three days).

Another type of adjustment can be called "preset perpetual calendar", where the movement is usually integrated and there is no adjustment knob on the side of the case, but rather all the displays are synchronized through the crown, as in the case of the Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vanguard perpetual calendars mentioned in the previous section.

Last but not least, there is a more advanced type called the retrograde perpetual calendar, which allows the calendar to be adjusted in all directions, so that the date as it exists in reality (whether forward or backward) can be displayed on the watch.

At present, there are only a handful of watchmakers in the industry that have come up with products that can be adjusted back to the perpetual calendar, and all of them use their own patented technology, without a unified specification. One of the more representative ones is the one developed by Dr. Ludwig Oechling in 1996, which is the first watchmaker in the world to develop a perpetual calendar. Dr. Ludwig Oechlin developed a perpetual calendar that can be freely adjusted forward or backward in 1996, and it is a classic Ulysse Nardin watch that has been in production for nearly 20 years.

Ulysse Nardin's new Ludwig Perpetual Calendar

Montblanc's new Heritage Perpetual Calendar for this year is powered by the MB 29.22 automatic caliber, which the brand developed in-house over a period of three years.

The movement is larger in size, perfectly suited to the 40 mm diameter, and instead of the usual lever-driven perpetual calendar, it is entirely gear-driven, allowing the date to be calibrated forward or backward via the crown, making it very easy to operate.

Montblanc's new Heritage Perpetual Calendar watch

05 One of the many rules of the game

Lastly, a word about the inner workings of the Perpetual Calendar. Some readers may have heard of the "Program Wheel", which is the heart of the Perpetual Calendar system, and which rotates once every four years.

As shown in the figure, the "program wheel" consists of uneven grooves, the three deepest grooves represent the 28 days of February in three equal years, a slightly shorter one represents the 29 days of February in leap years, the rest of the grooves represent the 30 days of the four small months of the year, and the full outer edge represents the 31 days of the seven large months of the year. The full outer edge represents the 31 days of the 7 major months of the year. The depth to which the lever on the left side of the program wheel "falls" into the grooves determines which day of the month the calendar system jumps to at the end of the month.

Even in Switzerland, only a handful of manufacturers have been able to develop perpetual calendars on their own, and in China, only Tianjin Seagull tried a few years ago, but then nothing happened. One of the main reasons for this is that the precision of the internal parts is too high, and the levers, cams and springs scattered throughout the movement are the key to the smooth running of the perpetual calendar system, compared to the "program wheel" which is obvious at a glance.

They pull on each other, one lever lifts to trigger the rotation of the cam, another toggle is driven by the spring to fall and drive the calendar to rotate, and a similar "big dance" is staged day in and day out, month in and month out, so that the slightest mistake in the length, angle, or strength of any of these parts can cause the whole system to jam.

Besides, a 48-tooth "program wheel" is only a routine operation for a perpetual calendar. There is another, more sophisticated system, whose centerpiece is a 12-tooth planetary wheel system that rotates once every 12 months, and a pocket-sized planetary wheel that rotates once every four years, making up a complete leap year cycle.

Patek Philippe's Ref. 5320 Automatic Perpetual Calendar, launched last year, is fitted with a newly developed automatic Caliber 324 S Q movement with a 12-tooth planetary wheel system.

The dial features a double aperture for the day of the week and month at 12 o'clock with an instantaneous jump function, while the date and moon phase discs at 6 o'clock form a symmetrical interface together with the day/night and leap year apertures*** on either side.

Patek Philippe Ref. 5320 Automatic Perpetual Calendar

In order to make the display on the dial as spacious as possible, Patek Philippe used the "deck" of the automatic caliber 324 to spread out the perpetual calendar module.

Of course, other specialized watchmaking brands also have their own specialties. For example, Henri Moser has created the famous "FlashCalendar", which displays perpetual calendar information through an exclusive flash calendar window in conjunction with the month hand on the dial.

The HERMèS MUSE PERPETUAL CALENDAR PURITY COSMOS GREEN

Its FlashCalendar consists of overlapping upper and lower annular calendar discs, which allow the user to quickly adjust the calendar forward or backward through the crown at any time of the day, even when traveling between multiple time zones.

Another unique feature of the Perpetual Calendar from Hennessy is that it only displays the correct date according to the actual length of the month. For example, if November has only 30 days, the calendar window will jump directly from the 30th to the 1st of the following month, without showing the 31st, a non-existent day. Similarly, at the end of February in a flat year, its calendar window will jump directly from the 28th to the 1st of the next month without going through the transition of 29th, 30th, and 31st. It seems simple, but it's ingenious.

Then there's this Breguet Nautical 5887 Equation of Time. With its incredible self-winding, perpetual calendar, equation of time, flywheel, and 80-hour power reserve, as well as instantaneous month and day apertures, retrograde calendar hands, and coaxial true solar time hand, it takes the complexity of the perpetual calendar display to an unprecedented level.

Breguet Nautical 5887 Equation of Time

Congratulations on reading this common (big) (white) easy (words) to understand guide to the perpetual calendar watch ...... Even if you did not read ...... must think they are very Awesome! Perpetual calendar watches are really super - interesting and encourage everyone to buy a couple back to wear and study!

We'll see you next Friday!

Article by Chen Guangda

Edited by Han Haha

Images courtesy of the brand

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