Posts Tagged ‘Perpetual Calendar’
4300V 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…
Read More25558BA Audemars Piguet Quantième Perpétuel Openwork
Despite the fact that they’ve almost entirely forgotten about it in favor of things like Spider-Man Royal Oaks, strange permutations of the Code 11.59 that nobody asked for, and stroking John Mayer’s ego, Audemars Piguet saved complicated mechanical watchmaking in 1978 with the reference 5548. This is the 25558, the first openwork (skeletonized) model of…
Read MoreMB&F LM Perpetual Calendar
I know this looks like another insane Legacy Machine creation from Max & co, and it is. But it is also one of the most significant updates made to the perpetual calendar complication of the last century. This is ground-up, first principles thinking as applied to keeping track of days in months and leap years.…
Read More25820SP Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
Any Royal Oak without brushing on the top of its bezel is serious business. At a glance, it almost looks wrong to have a fully mirror-finished bezel. But it isn’t wrong, it’s platinum. And it’s very likely to be a vintage QP. The evolution of the Royal Oak QP is quite a complex and nuanced…
Read MoreFirst Series Patek Philippe 3940J
This is a first series: Genesis. It’s the sort of 3940 that will raise the heart rate of even the most grizzled collectors. The very first 25 went to Beyer and were signed as such, then began the über desirable standard first series. They are solid caseback. Sunken Subs. And no interruption to that perfect…
Read More43032 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. What isn’t discussed as often…
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