Reply With QuoteThe Calendars
The focus of my passion these days.
Possibly the prettiest watch I own, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Calendar. I suppose this is what started me down the world of calendars and moonphases to an extent, a few really nice ones have gone (like at IWC) but this remains steadfast. There is a lovely simple and traditional moonphase and also power reserve, my two favourite complications. This is the second one I have owned, selling the first was a huge (and costly) mistake which I won't make again, i though trading it against a Patek would make me happy, I was wrong. It's 40mm and stainless steel, setting the day of the week can be a faff as there is no adjuster for the days so you have to wind through. All other functions are settable with pushers however and it never takes more than a minute or two. It's the only watch my wife has ever commented positively and it's also the only watch I have worn for an entire week just to see if I could. Maybe one day i will write up a comparison against some of the more supposedly higher end pieces, but in terms of value for money pre-owned, this really can't be beaten IMHO. It's on a custom Jean Rousseau strap and gets worn once a week, pretty rare for any watch.
A very modern package in a very traditional style, a Blancpain Villeret Complete Calandar 'Demi-Savonette' or half hunter, which refers to the hinged caseback. It measures 40mm in rose gold and has lovely flinque work to the dial as well as the traditional Blancpain moon looking in the direction of travel. I have had the complication before in a Fifty Fathoms and it made little sense; this is what it was made for. The hinged caseback is an unusual touch (and this is currently off for repair!) but the 4 'switches' you can see inside the caseback are actually the day, date, month and moonphase adjusters. As easy as a separate setting system can be, you set them with your fingernail rather than needing a tool (no chance of scratching), and the caseback snaps shut covering it up. Such a good idea, I was smitten when I saw it. The butterfly deployant also has a spring loaded closure rather than snapping shut by bending metal in the conventional way. Very clever and zero wear or damage. I waited a long, long time for one to come up at the right price, Blancpain is a SWatch brand but they, like Breguet, seem to have been given their head stylistically and horologically to produce what they want to. I like the result.
The last new watch I bought, the A Lange & Sohne Grande Lange Moonphase in rose gold. It measures a very borderline too-large 41.5mm but the quality of the casework and dial furniture is second to none, it's like it's alive when you catch it in the light. Bought to commemorate my daughter's birth (she is named for a moon goddess), I will hopefully never part with it. It has my favourite features, big date, moonphase and power reserve but all executed better than almost any other watch. Lange is a company that claims it doesn't vary it's finishing dependent on the expense of the watch and with this being middle of the range (at best) I can believe them. The moonphase register is solid gold and enamelled blue, then has 360 separate stars laser etched onto it. The harder you look, the higher the magnification, the better this watch gets. It has 72hr power reserve and is manually wound. The moonphase is slaved to the hour hand as well so rather than clicking over once a day, it is constantly, imperceptably moving. I am not a huge fan of the Glashutte 3/4 plate, especially if compare it to what you get in the chronographs, but it's perfectly executed and I can look at those (9) gold chatons all day. The hand engraved balance cock as well is a special touch and very Teutonic.
A rarer than it looks piece, Glashutte Senator Perpetual Calendar in platinum. This is a very early one at number 14 of 200, however they missed the usual '29 1/2' from the moonphase when they made the dial for the first 100 watches made as an expriment so really there are only 100 of them like this. It is shockingly heavy for a 40mm watch with a lot of metal in the case but the weight feels great once you're used to it. It's a pre-Swatch era watch so the quality defies belief; there are 9 gold chatons in the movement and it is better than anything else I own, I say that without hyperbole - the movement work is unparalleled. The PC is a treat to operate with a single pusher to update all functions (except the moon) and one of the pushers snaps the second hand back to 12 as the movement doesn't hack. Everything about this watch oozes quality and I'm afraid modern GOs just aren't up there anymore, I have compared enough of them and it's hard to believe as modern GOs really are superb. It's on a custom Camille Fournet strap and very nice it is too.
Previously this was the flagship of my collection and it is still the piece I wear when at events or meeting fellow nerds, The F.P.Journe Octa Divine, 40mm in platinum. Everybody seems to love an FPJ and there is an appreciation of them from others that none of the mainstream brands have. Very distictive hand set, the brilliantly arrogant 'Invenit et Fecit' on the dial and again it has my favourite combination of power reserve indicator (5 days) big date and moonphase but unlike the Lange is an automatic, and very efficient winder due to the large offset gold rotor. The entire movement is made of hardened 18kt gold; is that a good idea, well time will tell but it's great to look at and despite all that Pt and Au, it feels slim and relatively light on the wrist. Setting it is a joy, turn the crown one way for moonphase only, turn it the other way to set date and moonphase simultaneously. Genius in its simplicity. It's on a Jean Rousseau custom strap which is a very lairy shade of blue. Why not, it isn't a watch that takes itself seriously.
Pride of the calendars goes to this, the current flagship of the collection, a Patek Philppe 5159G. A 38mm perpetual calendar with retrograde date in unplated white gold. It has so-called 'officers case' with straight lugs, screwed in bars and the hinged caseback which so ably displays the movement if you so wish. The hinged back, because it is a moving part means this reference cannot be rhodium plated which was a huge draw for me; it is the same 'grey gold' alloy as the modern PPs, with a very high palladium content and the hue is unlike anything else. I previously owned a 5205 Annual Calendar in the same 'grey gold' and there is no way i could have lost that metal from the collection. I looked at the other PCs in my price range and they were plated watches or somehow didn't have a 'wow factor'. For me, this one does. Without wishing to denigrate my other watches, the quality of this hinged caseback compared to the Blancpain really is off the scale, you can begin to see where the money goes. There is hand engraved guilloche to the dial, a small onion crown and one of the things that appealed was how un-Pateklike it was. It's a traditional PC in that every function must be set separately with individual pushers and I won't lie, it's a pain. However, it makes you engage with the watch and if the biggest problem you have is your PP takes a while to set, life isn't too bad. It came from PP with a watch winder which is currently not being used, I prefer to do it myself. It's on a custom Jean Rousseau made for another PP now departed; it will gets something made specially when I have time.
And that's where I'm at. Not finished but certainly taking a break...
, and clean that baby vomit from the Aerospace bracelet 
Originally Posted by marcus fenix
