The ever-changing moods of the perpetual calendar
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Louis Nardin
Journalist and consultant
“A quality watch is a concentration of creativity, rare technical and scientific skills, and age-old gestures. It appeals to the desire for uniqueness and distinction; it is a badge of knowledge, power and taste. A watch has many stories to tell; the details and secrets provide the relish”.
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The star complication at the recent Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, the perpetual calendar has inspired a number of brands, with offerings spanning everything from technical innovation to price.
Ranking just behind the rarity that is a secular calendar, the perpetual calendar is considered the most complex calendar function to make. Several brands put this complication in the spotlight at this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. Greubel Forsey presented a Perpetual Calendar with Equation of Time, Cartier its Rotonde Astrocalendaire, A. Lange & Söhne its generous Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar Terraluna, and Montblanc the Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar. Together they make for an eclectic group of watches, each with its share of surprises.
We afford the utmost importance to legibility.
Greubel Forsey: all in a row
In 2011 Greubel Forsey departed from its usual line of pure chronometric performance and launched a GMT watch with a three-dimensional globe. At the 2014 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, the manufacture confirmed this new direction with the unveiling of the Perpetual Calendar with Equation of Time. Beyond the complication itself, the calendar display and its positioning on the dial required the greatest effort on the company’s part, as co-founder Stephen Forsey explains: “We afford the utmost importance to legibility. In this instance, the challenge we faced was to locate all the calendar indications on the same area of the dial and to align them, with a slightly larger date. To achieve this, we devised a mechanical computer to simplify as far as possible the adjustments this complication requires.”
Three patents have been filed for this perpetual calendar system, which is exceptionally easy to set, both forwards and backwards, using the crown. The equation of time is displayed at the back. Again, the manufacture has emphasised simplicity of use by superimposing two sapphire crystal discs. The difference between mean time, or civil time, and real solar time is given by a red or blue line that travels along a static minute scale. True to its positioning as an ultra-niche brand, Greubel Forsey has announced a price of CHF 670,000, the highest of the bunch.
Cartier: around and around
The Rotonde de Cartier Astrocalendaire pursues the same goals of clarity and ease of use but by different means. It too has a “mechanical brain” driving the perpetual calendar, whose gear-train construction radically breaks with the conventional mechanics of this complication. Importantly, it also allows the calendar to be adjusted backwards and forwards, at any time of day, whereas with a traditional system changing the date at certain hours puts the mechanism at risk.
The in-house 9459 MC movement displays calendar information on concentric circles, closely arranged in tiers. Each ring carries an indication of date, month or day, marked by moving blue brackets. A flying tourbillon fills the centre of this temporal well. The Rotonde Astrocalendaire is a faithful reflection of the brand’s attitude towards watchmaking – beyond the quality of the movement, it bears the Poinçon de Genève hallmark – and inventiveness in a highly personal interpretation of a challenging complication. An initial limited edition of 100 in platinum has been announced, priced in the region of CHF 150,000.
A. Lange & Söhne: a regulator display
The Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar Terraluna completes this trio of highly innovative perpetual calendars. The regulator-style dial, inspired by a clock built in 1807 by Johann Heinrich Seyffert in Dresden, displays hours, minutes and seconds on three subsidiary dials. All calendar indications are shown in windows, including the characteristic outsize date, with leap year. However, this perfectly legible layout almost pales in comparison with the extraordinary and totally new moonphase display at the back.
Composed of three discs, it shows the entire heavens rotating around the earth, with the moon coming in and out of view according to its cycle. Positioned slightly to the side, the balance doubles up as the sun. Thus the location of the moon relative to the earth and the sun is shown at all times. The completely new hand-wound movement incorporates a constant-force escapement and delivers a 14-day power reserve. Expect to pay €186,000 for the white gold version.
Montblanc: the challenger
Meanwhile, revolution is in the air at Montblanc. The brand is playing agent provocateur with its perpetual calendar, part of the new Meisterstück line (named after the legendary fountain pen). This classically styled watch is driven by an ETA base movement with a Dubois-Dépraz module. The truly subversive aspect is its price. Appointed at the head of the brand last June, and formerly at the helm of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Chief Executive Jérome Lambert has positioned the steel version at under CHF 10,000. A throwing down of the glove which has sparked very different responses: on the one hand, excitement among watch fans who are delighted to see a perpetual calendar at an affordable price and, on the other, the incredulity, not to say irritation, of critics who question whether an exceptional complication should be mainstreamed. But whatever view the industry’s professionals take, ultimately the market will decide.
