PERPETUAL CALENDAR TIMEPIECES

The perpetual calendar watch is one of watchmaking’s greatest inventions. The complex mechanism of this exceptional complication watch allows the date, day and month to be displayed, while taking leap years into account. Much more than a mechanical timepiece, it is one of the most delicate complications to create, a demonstration of ancestral craftsmanship that only the greatest watchmakers have mastered to perfection. A marvel of micromechanics, perpetual calendar watches represent both a technical challenge for a watchmaker and an indescribable emotion for lovers of fine timepieces. 

A rare and complex mechanism

Master watchmakers have long sought a solution to the quandaries of the calendar. With a mechanical memory of 1461 days, perpetual calendar watches are revolutionising modern watchmaking thanks to an ingenious system that takes leap years into account, i.e. the addition of 29th February every 4 years. With hundreds of cogs and gears, perpetual calendar watches require many months of intense, rigorous work. True technical masterpieces, they are based on the Gregorian calendar, decreed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. As they automatically take into account months with 28, 30 and 31 days, as well as the addition of 29th February in leap years, perpetual calendar timepieces do not need to be manually corrected every year or month - they work autonomously. However, because the Gregorian calendar eliminates a leap year every hundred years, with the exception of secular leap years, an adjustment is sometimes necessary. As 2100, 2200 and 2300 are exceptional non-leap years, timepieces equipped with a perpetual calendar will need to be corrected by one day on 1st March of these years.

Jaeger-LeCoultre: incomparable expertise

Founded in 1833 by Antoine LeCoultre in the Vallée de Joux, the Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmaking Manufacture has become an international benchmark. With more than 430 patents and 1,400 calibres, it masters the most complex complications: tourbillon watches, calendar watches, ultra-thin timepieces…

Driven by its creativity and desire to innovate, it is one of the few manufacturers to have complete control over every stage of production. United by the same passion for complication watches, our master watchmakers, engineers and designers pool their craftsmanship to create unique Swiss watches and to bring fine watchmaking to life, constantly pushing the boundaries.

The Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar is an icon among the many Jaeger-LeCoultre perpetual quantieme watches . With its remarkable proportions, this timepiece offers excellent readability of the perpetual calendar, displaying the moon phases, date, day of the week and year, as well as the power reserve: an incredibly sophisticated creation of watchmaking that dares to defy time.