Ochs und Junior was founded in 2006 by the innovative developer Ludwig Oechslin and his partners; today it belongs to the Oechslin family. Only 130 watches are produced each year at the company’s headquarters inside an Art Nouveau villa in La Chaux-de-Fonds. One might expect extremely high prices under these conditions, but the watches begin at 3000 euros even with an innovative weekday display. Ludwig Oechslin carried out and documented a restoration of the Farnese Clock in the Vatican from 1978 to 1982. He was then discovered by Rolf Schnyder (CEO of Ulysse Nardin until his death in 2011) when searching for a designer who could create astronomical complications. Oechslin first developed an astrolabe for Ulysse Nardin, followed by other complex models like the Freak and a perpetual calendar. From 2001 to 2014, Oechslin led the Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He studied mathematics, astronomy, archaeology and theoretical physics in his academic career, culminating in doctoral and post-doctoral degrees. And during that time, Oechslin also completed a watchmaking degree and master watchmaker examination. For him, science and craftsmanship are not polar opposites but come together neatly in watchmaking. “For me, everything is part of a single thing, the one complements the other. Scientific work provides the foundation for creative action.” Versatility also has a practical effect. According to Oechslin, “Intellectual labor is a vacation from manual labor, and vice versa.” 

The idea behind Ochs und Junior is to design functions as simply as possible with displays that are also just as simple. This is why the perpetual calendar module is made of only nine additional and three modified parts. This model is named Calendario Cent’Anni (CCA), or the “hundred-year calendar” in Italian — a more precise description than “perpetual” since every 100 years there is no leap year (with the exception of the years that are divisible by 400). The next time this occurs will be in 2100, which is the point when the calendar must be corrected. This also applies to perpetual calendars from other brands.

Reading the Perpetual Calendar watch is not immediately apparent, but after a brief explanation it very quickly becomes intuitive. Hour and minute hands work in the conventional way, and the running seconds are displayed by a small disk at 6 o’clock with a line pointer in a contrasting color. A snail-shaped track with 31 small openings — one placed at every other minute — shows the date. The central inner disk indicates the month, with a dot that points to 12 markings that are arranged in line with the hour markers. A small satellite inside this disk indicates a leap year when the marker points outwards. Despite the small number of parts, operation is extremely easy. The date, and all other displays along with it, can be adjusted forwards or backwards via the crown. T he Perpetual Calendar is available in different variants, including a modern design with a black dial and white or yellow accents, and with or without numerals. Or, customers can design the watch themselves using an online customizer. There is a choice between silver or titanium for the case material, with or without coating, as well as a variety of straps and colors for every element on the dial. In addition to different varnish colors, there is a signature Ochs und Junior brushed and oxidized brass finish option for the dial. The case is also plain and simple — round with short lugs. Oechslin describes it as a container that protects the movement, but one that does not distract from the principal element, which is the dial. Every watch is also water resistant to 100 meters and has a screw-down crown. Ochs und Junior is also different in other ways. The brand name is not found on the dial but on the inside of the strap. And all suppliers and partners are named transparently on the homepage. ETA movements are usually the basis for the complications, while the models with small seconds are based on movements by Ulysse Nardin.

The Settimana entry-level model with weekday display is offered in several different dial colors. The weekday is indicated via seven small round windows and a colored dot. If the dot is visible in the first window, that means it’s Monday. On models with a second time zone, a 12-hour disk that can be advanced using the crown so that the hour hand also shows a second time zone on the track in a 12-hour format.

The Day/Night model offers a completely separate complication is that is available only by special order. Each piece is specially calculated and manufactured for the customer’s location. The 12-hour marker for “south” and the two celestial bodies that circle around the inner hour dial are placed in the same positions as the sun and moon at the actual location, so the watch can show the moon-phase and the true midday — i.e., the point in time in which the sun is exactly in the south. The ever-changing dark portion of the lower part of the dial indicates the nighttime hours. It shows exactly how long it will be dark, and when the sun will rise and set. Ludwig Oechslin says he has even more ideas for complications on the drawing board. It will be exciting to see what other brilliant and minimalist innovations are coming next. 

To learn more about Ochs und Junior, click here, and to subscribe to the WatchTime print magazine, click here.    

PATEK PHILIPPE PERPETUAL CALENDAR REF. 5940

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5940

Patek Philippe’s cushion-shaped Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5940 is now also available with a rose-gold case. It is powered by Patek’s ultra-thin Caliber 240 Q with micro-rotor. The case measures 37 mm by 44.6 mm. The Ref. 5940R-001 is available for $87,320.

HERMÈS SLIM D’HERMÈS QUANTIÈME PERPÉTUEL

Hermes Slim d’Hermes Quantième Perpétuel

In January 2017, Hermès unveiled a new version of the Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel with platinum case and blue dial. The watch is powered by in-house Caliber H1950, an ultra-thin mechanical movement with micro-rotor. The Slim d’Hermès Quantième Perpétuel in platinum is available for $39,900.

AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK PERPETUAL CALENDAR

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar

During SIHH 2017, Audemars Piguet unveiled the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar with black ceramic case and bracelet. The 41-mm-large case houses the self-winding Caliber 5134. The price for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in full ceramic is $93,900. For more on the watch and its movement, click here.

FREDERIQUE CONSTANT MANUFACTURE PERPETUAL CALENDAR

Frederique Constant Manufacture Perpetual Calendar

in 2016, Frederique Constant unveiled to the world the Manufacture Perpetual Calendar with a full, in-house-developed perpetual calendar, priced under $10,000. it is available in either a stainless-steel or rose-gold-plated case, priced at $8,795 and $8,995. We cover the Frederique Constant Manufacture Perpetual Calendar in detail here.

A. LANGE & SÖHNE POUR LE MÉRITE

A Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour Le Mérite”

The hand-wound Tourbograph Perpetual “Pour le Mérite” in platinum is A. Lange & Söhne’s most complex watch with the attribute “Pour le Mérite.” The in-house movement combines five grand complications: perpetual calendar, chronograph, rattrapante function, fusée-and-chain transmission and tourbillon. The 43-mm-large Tourbograph Perpetual (we cover it in depth here) comes in a limited edition of 50 pieces, priced at 480,000 euros.

GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL SENATOR EXCELLENCE PERPETUAL CALENDAR

Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar in gold and steel

The Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar is based on the brand’s in-house automatic base movement, Caliber 36, and offers a 100-hour power reserve. The 42-mm watch sells for $22,000 in steel and $35,100 in rose gold. Click here for our full report on the watch from Baselworld 2017.

Polaris Geographic

Aptly named “Geographic”, the world time function has become a signature complication of the Swiss manufacture. Rather than simply displaying the hour of a second time zone, the ingenious mechanism also provides a 24-hour day/night indication and, in an aperture at the bottom of the dial, displays the name of a city corresponding to each of the 24 major time zones, with those observing daylight saving time clearly marked. When a city is selected, the corresponding time is automatically displayed. Thanks to a stop-second function, this second time zone is accurate to the hour, minute and second.

The Polaris Geographic also introduces a new color to the watch family: ocean gray. This shade is reminiscent of the ocean on a cloudy day. The color is applied in a double gradient and finished with 35 layers of lacquer. The displays are arranged in a pleasingly asymmetrical layout, with the second time zone in a sub-dial at 6 o’clock and the power reserve indicator in the upper left-hand sector of the dial. Orange accents draw the eye to key information points, contrasting with the dark background.

The stainless steel case is water-resistant to 100 meters. It measures 42 mm in diameter and 11.54 mm thick. Its exhibition caseback reveals the finely finished automatic caliber 939 movement, which has a power reserve of 70 hours.

Jaeger-LeCoultre provides a pair of interchangeable black textured rubber and blue-gray canvas straps for the Polaris Geographic. It retails for $16,100.

Polaris Date

Launched in 2018, the Polaris Date is the epitome of sporty elegance and unmistakable style. Water-resistant to 200 meters, the 42mm steel case features two crowns, one to set the time and the other to rotate the signature inner diving bezel. On this three-hand plus date layout, the different finishes – sunray brushed in the center and grained on the hour scale – really come into their own on the new ocean gray gradient dial.

Powered by the new generation of the automatic Caliber 899 with a 70-hour power reserve, the watch is equipped with a black rubber strap.

Pricing for the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Date is marked at $11,000.

Polaris Perpetual Calendar

Last but not least, the Polaris Perpetual Calendar gets an update in the form of a green gradient dial. The subtle shade is very elegant and looks great with the 42mm pink gold case. First launched in 2022 in stainless steel with a blue dial, this haute-horlogerie complication displays the correct date until 2100, automatically adapting to the different lengths of the months and even to leap years.

With an emphasis on symmetry and legibility, three slightly recessed sub-dials display the date, day and month, accompanied by a moon-phase display at 6 o’clock that indicates the age of the moon as well as its phases in both hemispheres. This amazing mechanical long-term memory is orchestrated by the Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 868, an automatic movement with a power reserve of up to 70 hours. Its magnificent details are brought to life through the exhibition case back.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar comes with a green rubber strap and a black alligator leather strap.

Pricing is marked at $52,200.

To learn more, visit Jaeger-LeCoultre, here.

Ever since the first clocks were created, there has been a desire to add complications. Moon phases and calendar functions were among the first, and as pocket watches and later on, wristwatches appeared on the scene, these complications were there too implemented relatively quickly. While the impact of the moon in modern-day life dwindled for most people, knowing the day, date, and month became more and more important, in part explaining their continued popularity.

There are several ways in which a calendar function can be executed in wristwatches. The most basic, and popular, one, is simply showing just the date through either a window in the dial or with a hand. This latter is often referred to as a so-called pointer date. A complete, or full, calendar offers you additional information. There are quite a few varieties these days, but the most classic combines a day and date indicator, either as a subdial or a window, with a moon phase. These watches often have a classic appeal, with the downside that they need to be manually corrected at the end of every month that doesn’t have 31 days.

While it seems to be a small effort to do so, the technical ingenuity demanded to create a perpetual calendar, which would automatically correct itself for months with less than 31 days, as well as leap years. It was British watchmaker Thomas Mudge who first created this complication for a pocket watch in 1762. It wouldn’t appear in a wristwatch until Patek Philippe re-cased one of their perpetual pocket watch movements in a 34.4mm case with a leather strap and sold it in 1927 to the American watch collector Thomas Emery. Other brands soon followed, and these days most high-end watch brands have one or more perpetual calendars in their collection.

The mechanical complexity of the perpetual calendar made it one of the most coveted complications but also an expensive one. In 1996, it was again Patek Philippe that launched another breakthrough, the annual calendar. Part of the mechanism that makes the perpetual calendar so complex is dedicated to correcting for the leap year. With an annual calendar, you only have to manually adjust the date of the watch once a year, in February. This gives it quite an advantage over a full or complete calendar while at the same time being far less expensive than a perpetual calendar watch. While Patek Philippe patented this new complication, many brands found different solutions to the same problem, and as a result, there are now quite a few annual calendar watches to choose from.

That all three different versions are very much alive and relevant becomes clear when we look at the recent introductions. As Omega expanded its collection of annual calendars in the Constellation Globemaster, Frederique Constant was doing the same for their Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture, while Vacheron Constantin launched an open-worked version of its Traditionnelle Complete Calendar. Which one would you pick?

This article is from the WatchTime Archives and was originally published in February 2022.

Among them is the Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar, which is unveiled in a new generation at this year’s Watches and Wonders. The latest executions feature a subtly modernized case and dial design, as well as a significantly increased power reserve thanks to the evolution of the self-winding caliber 868. The extended power reserve is very useful in a caliber with such complex indications, allowing the wearer to put the watch away for a whole weekend and wear it again on Monday without having to correct any of the indications. If necessary, however, they can be adjusted by means of a single corrector set in the side of the case. It goes without saying that the movement, which is equipped with a partially skeletonized rotor, is finished and decorated to high standards, such as perlage on the main plate, meticulous beveling of the angles and Geneva Stripes as well as blued screws.

In the world of watchmaking, where sizes and proportions are miniature, sometimes microscopic, small changes often make a big difference. Difficult to measure, they have an immediate impact with a “wow” effect. It really is a bit like magic. This rings also true for the new Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar whose case has been subtly reworked while maintaining the same proportions as the original Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar, with an elegant diameter of 39mm and a svelte height of 9.2 mm.

The dial design has also been modified, while retaining all the symmetry and balance of the earlier layout. Refined sub dials highlight the indications, making them even more legible than before; the starry sky of the moon phase display is more intricate; the applied hour markers have been elongated; and each facet of the Dauphine hands has a different finish, polished or satin.

The steel version of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar that comes with a silver dial retails for approximately $33,000 when converted to USD. The pink gold variant, equipped with an eggshell-hued dial has a sticker price of approximately $47,400 when converted to USD. The diamond-studded model in pink gold retails for approximately $55,800 when converted to USD.

To learn more, visit Jaeger-LeCoultre, here.