How does perpetual date work

Patek Philippe patented the first annual wristwatch in Obviously, a watch with a perpetual calendar is much more complicated than a watch with an annual calendar. As a result, perpetual calendars are significantly more expensive than an annual calendar. We're constantly creating great content like this. So, why not get it delivered directly to your inbox? By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy but you can unsubscribe at any time. For sellers, we do all the legwork of valuating, marketing, and selling—for buyers, we put trust back into the act of purchasing sight-unseen with our servicing and authentication process.

Call Now: 1 Sign Up For Our Emails. Watch April 2, Post Tags annual calendar perpetual calendar watch complications. Compare these with the Perpetual Calendar , one of the culminations of the watchmaker's art whose origins go back to the end of the eighteenth century. It will continue to show the correct date by adjusting to the variable number of days in the month and by taking the cycle of leap years into account.

To accomplish this exploit, the movement draws on a "mechanical memory" of 1, days or four years. Most perpetual calendar mechanisms use a differential gear mechanism from the hour wheel and can comprise several hundred wheels, gears , levers and other parts. The perpetual calendar remains a classic among complications, yet never ceases to inspire new interpretations and perfecting.

It even accounts for leap year. Understand that there are many different perpetual calendar watches on the market and, by extension, the movements operate a bit differently from one to the next. The reason for this is simple: in the year , when the leap year should occur, we will be skipping leap year in order to have real time according to the Gregorian calendar and solar time coincide correctly. Perpetual calendars are, by nature, extremely complex and typically hold hundreds of tiny mechanical parts inside.

Most consist of a date wheel, a date change lever, a day wheel and a day-of-the-week lever, as well as month wheels and racks to make all of the parts engage and track time correctly.

If the watch has a moon phase indication it will have yet another disk. Because of the extensive work that goes into building one, they generally command higher prices than simple watches. Essentially, the perpetual calendar of today has its roots that date back to the late 16th century. Taking their inspiration from astronomical clocks and bell towers of the 15th and 16th centuries, watchmakers made small strides in incorporating the calendar function into portable timepieces.