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dates with destiny

Fine calendar watches by Patek Philippe situate the user not only in the hour and day but also in the month— and in the annals of legendary timepieces.

BY CHRISTEN FISHER

When the Roman poet Virgil wrote, “All our sweetest hours fly fastest,” he wasn’t making a scientific observation, but a psychological one. (“Time flies,” we say today, “when you’re having fun.”) But of course literal time moves at a constant rate independent of our endeavors, sweet or bitter, and that movement goes beyond the circulating hands of the clock to propel the calendar’s pages and a tree’s annual rings. It needs and deserves precision instruments to mark its passage accurately—instruments such as Patek Philippe’s remarkable collection of simple, annual and perpetual calendar watches.

Simple calendar watches display the date through an aperture or by means of a hand to indicate the number of the day from 1 to 31 within the month. To maintain the correct date, these watches must be manually adjusted at the end of thirty days and at the end of February.

Patek’s current collection features several simple calendar watches including Reference 7300/1200R Ladies’ Twenty~4 Automatic in rose gold. Designed for the modern, active woman, this watch features a round case with diamond-set bezel and is available with either a brown sunburst or silvery dial enriched with a shimmering vertical and horizontal finish known as “shantung.” Powered by the self-winding movement caliber 324 S C, this timepiece displays hours, minutes and sweep seconds, as well as the date in an aperture at 6 o’clock. It is presented on a rose gold bracelet with foldover clasp.

For gentlemen, Patek offers Reference 5226G Calatrava in white gold with a textured charcoal gray dial featuring a black gradient rim. The self-winding movement caliber 26-330 S C powers this watch’s hours, minutes, central seconds, aperture-type date and stopseconds mechanism. It comes with two interchangeable handstitched straps: a beige calfskin with a nubuck finish and a black calfskin with an embossed fabric motif.

Annual calendars, a complication invented by Patek in 1996, require only a single manual adjustment once each year at the end of February. The current collection includes Reference 4947/1A Annual Calendar, a 38mm watch designed to suit both men’s and ladies’ wrists. Available in stainless steel with a blue shantung satinfinish dial and gold applied numerals, this timepiece is powered by self-winding movement caliber 324 S QA LU. The day and month are displayed by hands while the date is shown in an aperture. The watch also features a moon phase and sweep seconds.

Additionally, there is Reference 4947G Annual Calendar of the same size, but designed exclusively with ladies in mind. Powered by the same movement as the 4947/1A, this version features a silvery dial with a shantung satin finish handsomely set off by a white gold case and crown set with 141 and 14 diamonds respectively. It is presented on a shiny, peacock blue alligator strap.

Reference 5205R Annual Calendar with moon phase was designed for gentlemen. Originally launched in 2010, it was released in this version in 2022. It features an olivegreen sunburst dial with a black-gradient rim. The handpolished, rose gold case houses the self-winding movement caliber 324 S QA LU 24H/206 and boasts a concave bezel, hollowed flanks, skeletonized lugs and a sapphire crystal case back. It is presented on a handstitched, two-tone green alligator strap with a prong buckle.

The most technologically complex calendar watch is the perpetual calendar. Boasting a mechanical “memory” of four years, or 1,461 days, a perpetual calendar watch accommodates months with 31, 30, and 28 days as well as February 29th in leap years. Requiring a highly sophisticated mechanism based on a complex system of levers and cams pivoting around their axes, these models will only require manual adjustment in the year 2100, the next century year not divisible by 400. Two examples of this extraordinary feat of Patek Philippe engineering are the 5320G Men’s Perpetual Calendar and the 7140G Ladies’ First Perpetual Calendar, both in white gold.

The 5320 is powered by caliber 324 S Q and features a gilded opaline rose gold dial with charcoal gray gold applied numerals. The calendar displays are arranged in a twin in-line, day/month aperture at 12 o’clock. The date is indicated by a hand surrounding the moon phase at 6 o’clock. These are complemented by two round apertures: one for the day/night indicator between 7 and 8 o’clock; and the other for the leap year cycle between 4 and 5 o’clock. The moon phases on this watch require a one-day correction only once every 122 years. This watch comes with interchangeable full and sapphire crystal case backs and is presented on a chocolate brown alligator strap with a fold-over clasp buckle.

The 7140 is powered by the ultra-thin self-winding movement caliber 240 Q. Its bezel is set with 68 diamonds, which beautifully deflect light onto a silvery sunburst dial with applied numerals and minute pearls in gold. It comes with interchangeable full and sapphire crystal case backs and is presented on either a gray or a turquoise alligator strap with a prong buckle set with an additional 27 diamonds.

Whether you choose a simple, annual or perpetual calendar wristwatch, the hours will pass sweetly if they’re marked by a Patek Philippe.

full time

Keanu Reeves has been wearing luxury watches on-screen and off since the mid ‘90s. Here he rocks a unique timepiece during a shoot for The Matrix Reloaded: the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonic Memory Time, which was introduced in 1996.

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