Posts Tagged ‘Perpetual Calendar’
43031 Vacheron Constantin 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…
Read MoreDB16 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…
Read More25654ST 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.…
Read More25558BA 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…
Read MoreDe Bethune DB25 Perpetual Calendar
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…
Read More4300V Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar, 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…
Read More5004A Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Split Seconds
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…
Read More5040G 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…
Read More43032 Vacheron Constantin Skeleton Quantième Perpétuel, Platinum
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…
Read More‘Yves Klein’ Dial 25820ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak QP
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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