43031 Vacheron Constantin Perpetual Calendar, Platinum

Vacheron-Constantin-43031-Perpetual-Calendar-Platinum

The 43031 is a QP made for posterity to enjoy. Shortly after the 5548, Vacheron brought back their take on the ultra-thin 920 QP, distinctly quirky and slightly more expressive than the AP. To be certain, it was not appreciated properly in period. Between AP’s 5548 and Patek’s 3940, the 43031 sold far, far fewer…

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DB16 De Bethune Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar

DB16-De-Bethune-Tourbillon-Perpetual-Calendar

It is universally understood that De Bethune make spaceships for the wrist. Except, they haven’t always. In fact, the first decade was largely extremely classical with Roman or Breguet-like numerals, pomme or feuille hands, and remarkably normal cases. Collectors are starting to talk about early De Bethune with the kind of hard-line separation that Journe…

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25654ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Quantième Perpétuel

25654ST-Audemars-Piguet-Royal-Oak-Quantième-Perpétuel

We’ve all gotten used to wild Laurent Ferrier Grand Sport Tourbillons, FPJ Sport Rattrapantes, or even RMs, but this was the first time high complication met sporting ambition. It is impossible to overstate the significance of reference 5554, the Royal Oak QP, first debuted in 1984. Collectors and enthusiasts know, but everyone else has forgotten.…

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25558BA Audemars Piguet Quantième Perpétuel Openwork

25558BA-Audemars-Piguet-Quantième-Perpétuel-Openwork

Many ask what the ultimate 90s QP really is. Many will say a Beyer or Saatchi 3940. The VC equivalent of ultra-desirable, low volume is the 43032 Skeleton, preferably with blue subdials. The Audemars Piguet equivalent is this. Audemars Piguet saved complicated mechanical watchmaking in 1978 with the reference 5548. This is the 25558, the…

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De Bethune DB25 Perpetual Calendar

De-Bethune-DB25-Perpetual-Calendar-Titanium

You wouldn’t guess it at a glance, but this is a perpetual calendar. It’s just a perpetual calendar in titanium with a spherical palladium/zirconium moonphase and day/month apertures in a place you might not expect. There’s an inherent paradox here. Denis Flageollet has had some pretty audacious cases and designs over the years. This isn’t…

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4300V Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar, Pink Gold

Vacheron-Constantin-Overseas-Perpetual-Calendar-4300V-Pink-Gold

The Vacheron Constantin Perpetual Calendar has always been the unobvious choice. AP were first to both the post-quartz revolution QP and later integrating that QP with a sports case in the 25554 in 1983. They invented the category. Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin only brought perpetual calendars to their sports lines in 2018 & 2011…

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5004A Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Split Seconds

Patek-5004

Patek Philippe only has the reputation today that can see it ‘get away’ with things like the rainbow minute-repeating Aquanauts because of the reputation it built with watches like the 5004. In 1994, Patek Philippe faced a question. They’d successfully brought high complication to meet serial production, in a way that few marques had, in…

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5040G Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar

5040G-Patek-Philippe-Perpetual-Calendar

Shaped watches are often overlooked and there might be no case more unjustly maligned than the Patek Philippe 5040. The 5040 is the lesser famous Don Swayze to the 3940’s Patrick Swayze. Why is that? This is a micro-rotor cal 240Q perpetual calendar, same as the 3940, in a Tortue-like case. But for all the…

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43032 Vacheron Constantin Skeleton Quantième Perpétuel, Platinum

43032-Vacheron-Constantin-Skeleton-Quantième-Perpétuel

The case could easily be made that the three ‘holy trinity’ neo-vintage perpetual calendars, the storied refs 5548, 43031, and 3940, are the most important complicated serially produced watches of the modern era, particularly the 5548 for bringing the category back. But that’s like saying David Gandy is handsome; duh. Around the time Patek was…

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‘Yves Klein’ Dial 25820ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak QP

Yves-Klein-25820ST-Audemars-Piguet-Royal-Oak-Perpetual-Calendar

There is something fantastic about pairing high complication with vibrant color. Somehow, complication and the effort required to create it tends to bring about the serious side of aesthetics and design, almost as a way of saying ‘you should take this seriously’. This is the other philosophy. Most collectors tend to prefer pre-leap year indication…

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