New Perpetuity

To let you in on a little secret, the leading manufacturers still refer to watches with perpetual calendars as "DHL watches" among themselves to this day. This calendar mechanism's system which tracks the date without having to be adjusted only seems like something that's not all that complicated at first glance.

Its wheels rotate at different speeds — ranging from one revolution per day to a full revolution once every four years — synchronized by numerous connecting levers axes and gears. However, there are quite a lot of components and mechanisms working together in this system.

And if only the one of these wheels would be slowed down or sped, the owner will have to send the watch to be repaired at the manufacture via the DHL courier service. But this is only in cases where the movement has been made using traditional watchmaking methods and  technologies. 

These traditional problems can only be consigned to the past if modern perpetual calendars are developed that can function in a different way. And it's high time for this problem to be tackled. New manufactures have been working on new base movements for a number of years. They've already received feedback since they were developed a few years ago, and their capabilities have already become more or less well-known.

Watchmakers have new technologies and materials at their disposal that boast characteristics which were once unattainable. These new movements now require new modules. The top watch manufacturers have begun creating new perpetual calendars with more reliable constructions and are coming up with new ways of producing them.

And the watchmaking titans who've already solved the most perpetual of all perpetual problems are working these calendars to absolute perfection. The new generation's most emblematic perpetual calendar is now of course the watch which combines a tourbillon, a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar and an astronomical display, spreading them over four dials.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 Quadriptyque which was unveiled to mark the iconic model's 90th anniversary. The perpetual calendar is just one of this watch's eleven functions, yet it deserves separate merit for its construction.

The Reverso's creators swapped the patented system of indicators with a number of hands rotating in opposite directions on each of the axes for a new system of date display disks in order to keep the JLC Caliber 185 and history's most complicated movement lean.

This kept the height of one of the most complicated watch movements in the history of haute horlogerie with 800 components down to just 15.15 mm. The far simpler and more reliable date display disk system ensures the module runs smoothly. The model was released in a white-gold case measuring 51.2 × 31 mm and limited to ten pieces priced at EUR 1,350,000 a pop. 

The great Patek Philippe decided to position the perpetual calendar windows close together in-line in a day-date-month sequence. They used to be positioned along the curve of the upper half of the dial from half past nine to half past two. The day / night and leap-year indication found their place on the lower half of the dial in an aperture between 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock.

The new self-winding Caliber 31-260 PS QL had to be developed In order to accommodate this, for which three patents have been filed. The Ref. 5236P model was released in a platinum case measuring 41.3 mm in diameter with a blue dial. This flawless perpetual comes with a price tag of USD 131,000.

The Saxon-based manufacture of A. Lange & Söhne decided to equip its iconic Lange 1 post-revival model with a perpetual calendar module. It goes without saying that the perpetual calendar needed to have an unusually flamboyant dial without sacrificing the watch's neat harmony, which was no easy task. But they succeeded, and did it with flying colors.

The automatic L021.3 movement with a 50-hour power reserve is also brand new. The Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar comes in a 41.9 mm pink-gold case with a gray silver dial priced at USD 104,500, or in a white-gold case with a solid pink-gold dial for USD 116,000. The latter model was released in a limited edition of 150 pieces.

And in keeping with tradition, Bulgari set yet another world record for its slender watch cases — already its seventh — with the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar.  Its case height is a mere 5.8 mm. This model now holds the title for the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar.

And that's with the BVL 305 manufacture movement measuring 2.7 mm in height, with a self-winding movement which also boasts an impressive 60-hour power reserve for such a slender caliber. The secret behind this model's slim profile is that instead of making a separate module for the perpetual calendar.

Its creators integrated the indicators directly into the gear train of the world's thinnest automatic base movement created for the Octo Finissimo model (BVL 138, 2.23 mm in diameter). The most original and rewarding idea was to use retrograde date and leap-year displays. 

The platinum model has the reference number 103463, and the reference for the titanium one is 103200. The former costs USD 89,000 and the latter is USD 59,000. The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar also happens to have broken the record for the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch formerly held by the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin.

Funnily enough, Audemars Piguet doesn't unequivocally recognize this record. The company points to the fact that Bulgari's movement is equipped with an eccentric micro-rotor for its automatic winding, and believes their own automatic perpetual calendar powered by caliber АР 5133 remains the thinnest full-rotor automatic movement. It wouldn't be haute horlogerie without a good debate!