In April we showed you our list of five watches with perpetual calendars that we liked the look of. As with the previous perpetual calendar Top 5, we will only allow the chronograph to be paired with the calendar function, no tourbillons or minute repeaters here.
5. Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar Ref. 1-36-02-01-02-30
Most people know that Glashütte Original watches make for exceptional money value watches, especially considering their competition is both vast and often more expensive. The Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar follows the traditional game plan for Glashütte Original by offering a very high-quality product for a sensible price. That gets the owner an attractively decorated in-house movement, along with a clean dial that gives only the necessary information with a clear layout that prioritises window displays rather than subdials. It also features Glashütte Original’s Panorama Date window for good measure.
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4. H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Ref.1341-0207
The clean and minimalist design of the Endeavour Perpetual by H.Moser is undoubtedly what sets alight the flames of love that most collectors have for this watch. The fact that this is a perpetual calendar at all catches a lot of people out; it looks nothing like a traditional perpetual calendar watch. There are no fussy subdials like the other watches here, and there’s only one window as well. The date window sits at 3 O’clock, just emerging from the centre pinion is a large hand which indicates the months, as there are 12 months in a year and 12 hours in a day it proved useful to place it here. The leap years are displayed through the caseback. The rest of it is a minimalist’s dream.
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3. Ochs Und Junior Perpetual Calendar
At number three on the list is the Perpetual Calendar from Ochs Und Junior, a brand which has become renowned for making high-end watches that appear incredibly simple and often make use of wood. This watch is based on a Ulysse Nardin UN-118 movement and comprises an intelligent method to keep the dial clean. A ring of 31 dots indicates the date, while an inner ring rotates to display the months, within that ring are four dots, when the outermost dot is orange, then it is a leap year. There are also two small circles around this inner ring which indicate the power reserve. Although intelligent in design, it is a little confusing at first though the brand assures owners that it gets easier with practice.
2. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ceramic Ref. #26579CE.OO.1225CE.01
Although they recently made a white ceramic version of this watch, it’s the black ceramic Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar that we love the most. The sleek black case combined with an ultra-light bracelet and minimalist dial makes for one hell of a watch. There are no running seconds on the dial, so you rely on checking the watch every few minutes to ensure it is still working correctly. I would suggest taking this watch off and viewing the self-winding movement through the back to ensure that it works, but that means taking it off, which I guarantee is something no one will want to do. The clean design of the black dial combined with the part polished part matte bracelet make for a viewing experience like no other.
1. MB&F LM Perpetual
I think the simple reason for this watch not being on my previous list is that I forgot. No serious list of perpetual calendar watches could be complete without the Legacy Machine Perpetual, a watch that looks like no other. The 3D architecture of the dial with the suspended balance wheel hovering over the rest of the watch like a UFO makes for spectacular viewing, and all 581 components of the movement have been decorated per the high standards customers demand of MB&F. There isn’t really a downside to this watch, other than they don’t give them away to faithful journalists.
