Calendar watches: it's time to get yourself a date with destiny
We take so many things for granted these days. When people had no idea that the world was round or that the moon wasn't glowing by itself, they still had a way to tell the time and date. These days, dates have become mere numbers that help us function.
This makes having calendars in watches all the more amazing. Making a watch tell the time is easier as seconds, minutes and hours in a day are pretty constant, but getting it to tell the date with so many variables between the months is a challenge. A perpetual calendar, which takes into consideration all the leap years and requires no adjustment every four years until 2100 (when there isn't a leap year), is now a regular feature of luxury watches. That being said, watch calendars are not just a technical marvel but an aesthetic one. At the SIHH watch show this year, IWC released its Portuguese Perpetual Calendar (1) equipped with a lunar display. I personally love the white gold variant with a midnight blue dial and silver-plated highlights. It would look perfect with a classic blue pinstripe suit, or a tailored shirt from Turnbull & Asser.
The engraved disc at 12 o'clock represents the globe and on its sides are two circular cut-outs representing two moons for two hemispheres. The cut-outs are set against a silver-coloured background with two blue circles representing the shaded parts of the moons. When the globe moves, the 'shadows' cover the 'moons' representing the lunar cycle. There is even an indicator as to when the next full moon will be, with enough accuracy that only after 577 years will there be a day's deviation. The amusement it provides alone is worth the price.
Equally classic and elegant is Jules Audemars Perpetual Calendar, whose 4mm thick case incredibly houses a movement of 355 parts capable of indicating the day, the date, the month, the moon phases and the leap-year cycle. Here is how it works: the irregularity of the 30 or 31-day months is controlled by a cam connected to a wheel, with protruding sections around its circumference representing 31-day months, and the notches those of 30 days. On the same axis, a separate wheel bears a cam that indicates the standard February and the leap years.
The sapphire crystal on the back emphasises the workmanship that has gone into this piece. And at 41mm in diameter, it should be comfortable on the wrists of most men. I personally love the model with the brown dial and brown alligator leather strap with big squares (2), which blend perfectly with the 18 carat pink gold case. Perhaps it is because brown is a softer colour, but this watch creates a sense of warm elegance and casual urbanity. The sunburst satin-brushed finish and refined pink gold hour-markers on the dial are a nice touch. I can picture a gentleman, taking a break from business, sitting back in his favourite sweater and sipping a glass of single-malt while donning his watch.
I love asymmetry. It is the most natural form there is: nothing in this world is supposed to be symmetrical - including the earth and its orbit. That's the reason why I love Maurice Lacroix' Pontos Decentrique Phases de Lune No.21 Limited Edition. Powered by the automatic movement ML122, the watch has an off-centre moon phase/moon age, day-and-night and date indication. The 45mm diameter titanium case with alligator leather strap gives off a sense of mystique and exudes cool confidence. There are only 500 pieces made for this particular model but for something more obtainable, there are other models featuring the Phases de Lune.
If you want something edgier, you can always count on the energy of Roger Dubuis. Its Excalibur Bi-retrograde jumping date is powered by the newly-created movement RD14B with a butterfly calendar. The two-sector retrograde date indicator on the dial features the hands. The left one displays the first to 15th of the month and a 'handover' takes place when the 16th commences, as the display on the left-side jumps behind the 12 o'clock and reappears on the right-side.
Whimsy aside, what I love about this watch is how it plays with the Arabic numerals and the date indictor to form the sleek design. The smaller numbers border the anthracite bi-retrograde date zones while five, six, seven and 12 o'clock are emphasised by oversized numerals. The applique hour markers add an extra dimension. It's a timepiece with a graphically powerful appearance that would rest well on a high flier in creative fields such as advertising, design or architecture.
At the other end of the spectrum are jewelled watches. Perhaps because I grew up seeing too many Hong Kong men ostentatiously flaunting their new-found wealth in 1970s/80s by wearing glaring watches, I have the tendency to look away when a diamond watch presents itself. But if you are into the glitter, consider the new Piaget Emperador Full-Set Coussin Perpetual Calendar (3), created to mark the occasion of the jeweller/watchmaker's one-millionth watch. Only 20 of these watches will be produced in 2010.
The full-cut and baguette-cut diamonds totalling 9.9 carats on the 18k white gold case and the dial would satisfy the most glitter-crazed watch lover, but the bling does not overshadow the functions: the 5.6mm-thick Calibre 856P mechanical self-winding movement beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour and houses a lineup of functions such as hours, minutes, small seconds at 4 o'clock, month and leap year at 12 o'clock, retrograde day of the week and date indications at 3 o'clock. On top of that a dual time zone is displayed with two hands in a sub dial at 9 o'clock, and a day/night indicator indexed to the central hour.
It would take a particular kind of man to carry this watch off, because it is not the size of one's bank account but the attitude that makes one deserving of such a jewelled timepiece.
Shopping list:
IWC, 1881 Heritage, 2A Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2301 3011.
Jules Audemars available from Audemars Piguet Pavilion by King Fook, G/F, Central Building, Pedder Street, Central, tel: 2810 6606.
Maurice Lacroix available from Prince Watch & Jewellery Co, 58 Russell Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 2776 0688.
Piaget, Elements, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2196 8406.
Roger Dubuis, Pacific Place, Admiralty, tel: 2918 9368.
