It’s no secret that, pretty much since it was invented by Thomas Mudge, an intrepid English watchmaker, back in 1762, the perpetual calendar has taken pride of place on the fascia of countless treasured timepieces from many of the world’s most well-loved haute horology houses. For the uninitiated, these are mechanisms capable of not only keeping track of the date, day and month, but also of every passing year – including leap years. In the case of most currently available models, their movements can remain untweaked until 2100 at the very least.

Today, despite the time and effort that go into creating these notoriously complex complications, there is no shortage of innovative new iterations. A particularly admirable example comes courtesy of Chopard in the form of its L.U.C Perpetual T Spirit of the Dragon and the Pearl. A homage to the Tian Long dragons of classical Chinese mythology, two such beasts majestically adorn the watch’s beautifully hand-engraved rose gold case – a process said to require some 200 hours of work by one of the brand’s finest artisans. The dial proper then boasts a tourbillon at 6 o’clock, while the perpetual calendar indicators can be found at 3 and 9 o’clock. Fitted with a hand-wound Calibre L.U.C 02.15-L movement as standard, this one-of-a-kind timepiece is a collectors’ item in waiting.

Eschewing the outré in favour of the more minimalist, Montblanc’s Heritage Perpetual Calendar opts for a truly timeless white-rose gold combination. A 100-piece limited-model, it boasts a moon phase movement and a dual-time function, as well as its duly-forefronted perpetual complication. One particularly adept addition is a nifty new safety feature that prevents users from adjusting the chronogram between the hours of 9pm and 3am – a move that ensures its precision mechanism remains tamper-free and its useful life is extended and optimised.

Delightfully clean counters are also on offer from A Lange & Söhne and have been ably enshrined in its blue-and-white Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “25th Anniversary”. Beneath its dazzling dial – elegantly embellished with an off-key, off-centre hour-and-minute subdial, a moon phase display and day-date-month indicators – beats the house’s legendary Calibre L082.1, a self-winding movement that’s so complex it comprises 624 individual parts. With a hidden subdial tourbillon only adding to its sophistication, it is daringly debonair yet unobtrusively opulent.

Again sporting an eminently elegant blue-and-white gold livery is the Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Enamel, one of the latest offerings from the ever-innovative house of Jaeger-LeCoultre. Elegantly showcasing the marque’s renowned artisanal craftsmanship, its hand-guilloché dial is the perfect counterpoint to its fascia-featured perpetual complication and moon phase movements. Polished and poised, this ultra-slim limited-edition model is an apt homage to beautiful yet intricate watchmaking at its very finest.

Acknowledging the current ascendancy of the super-slim look, Vacheron Constantin’s new Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar, meanwhile, weighs in with a positively waif-like depth of 5.7mm, a feat made more miraculous still by the fact its sensationally-slender width houses a perpetual calendar, a moon phase and a minute repeater. Powering all this is the remarkable manual-winding Calibre 1731 movement, a feat of precision engineering comprising 438 individual wafer-thin components. One of the true hero pieces in the watchmaker’s widely-admired Les Cabinotiers range, only two one-off versions – one in white gold and one in pink gold – are ever destined to see the light of day.

With its eye firmly on the Asian market, for its part, Blancpain has opted to release an exclusive boutique version of its rightly-lauded Villeret Quantième Perpétuel. Available in a limited edition of just 88, the white gold case of the original has been upgraded to platinum, while its redesigned dial rejoices in an all-new sunray-brushed deep blue hue. In a particularly deft move, Blancpain has also damage-proofed the perpetual calendar via an integral security system within the self-winding Calibre 5954 movement.

The title of Perpetual Calendar King – were it on offer – though, would surely go to Patek Philippe, long considered among the most masterful of marques when it comes to grand complications. As proof incontestable, the latest iteration of its Grandmaster Chime Ref.6300G-010 is undoubtedly its most complex to date, a title attested to by its incorporation of 20 individual complications.

With a touch of the avant-garde, its entire case can be rotated around its lug connection points, with both fascia deployed to display its intricate inner workings – which, in addition to the perpetual complication, include five different chiming modes, a second time zone display with day / night indicator and a moon phase. In a knowing nod to the kind of wealthy, debonair gentlemen likely to sport such a horological high-water mark, each watch comes boxed with complimentary complementing cufflinks boasting the same blue opaline-on-white gold motif as this truly timeless timepiece.

Text: Tenzing Thondup