Different Calendar Watches

 

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March is finally here! Oh wait -- is it? 

Leap day can be a great opportunity to get all of your end of month errands and bills completed. However, this extra day can complicate your timepiece.

In honor of the day that comes around once every four years - we wanted to go through the various calendar complications some wristwatches have:

• Date: Perhaps self explanatory, but a watch with a “date” complication will have a display or aperture - a small opening on the dial - indicating the day’s date. Unless it is an Annual or Perpetual Calendar watch, it will go until the 31st before changing over to the 1st - so on months with fewer days, a manual adjustment must be made.
• Big Date: This display allows for a much larger view of the date and often has two separate date wheels - the left displaying 0-3 and the right displaying 0-9. Same rule applies - you’ll need to manually adjust this if it’s not an Annual or Perpetual Calendar watch.
• Day-Date: A Day-Date timepiece adds the day of the week to the date complication. Perhaps one of the most well known makers of this is Rolex with their Day Date collection. “In 1956, the Oyster Perpetual Day Date made its debut and was the first wristwatch to display the date and day of the week spelt out in full in a window on the dial.”
• Triple Calendar: Also called triple date, Day-Month-Date, or complete calendar - is when three different items of information (day of the week, date, and month of the year) is included on the display.
• Annual Calendar: With a complete calendar displaying day, date, and month - an annual calendar timepiece automatically adjusts the correct date each month (30th or 31st) and requires resetting only once per year, at the end of February.
• Perpetual Calendar: The most complex type of calendar feature - a perpetual calendar correctly displays the date, day, month, and year, even taking into account leap years! The next time you’ll find yourself needing to reset a perpetual calendar isn’t until year 2100.

If you find yourself having trouble resetting the calendar on your timepiece - stop by our shop in Grand Central Terminal’s 45th Street Passageway, we'd be happy to help.

At Central Watch, our professionals have been selling and servicing watches since 1952. From vintage timepieces to watch repair and watch straps, we are here to provide exceptional service for all of your watch needs. To view our selection of timepieces or learn more about our services, visit us online or give us a call at (212) 685-1689.