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on the pulse<br />
Clockwise from top left: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Enamel; Montblanc Heritage<br />
Perpetual Calendar; Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar<br />
most with perpetuals. This year, the Swiss<br />
brand took the genre to an entirely new<br />
level with the innovative Traditionnelle<br />
Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar, devised with<br />
two balances, each operating at different<br />
frequencies. A pusher allows you to switch<br />
between active mode at 5Hz (36,000vph)<br />
with four days of power reserve, and standby<br />
mode at 1.2Hz (8,640vph), which extends<br />
the power reserve to at least 65 days, reducing<br />
the need to reset the watch if the power runs<br />
down when you’re not wearing it.<br />
Also appealing to its heritage, BOVET<br />
(bovet.com) brought a new twist to the<br />
traditional perpetual with the Retrograde<br />
Perpetual Calendar Récital 21, noteworthy<br />
for its unconventional design, a hallmark<br />
of the brand that dates back to the 19th<br />
century. Hours and minutes are read on a<br />
small center dial, encircled by a retrograde<br />
date display. Apertures reveal the day, month<br />
and leap year cycle. The inclined case shape,<br />
inspired by an old writing desk, allows<br />
enough volume for the small seconds hand<br />
to sweep beneath the central dial in another<br />
unexpected flourish.<br />
Aesthetic delight is equally in focus at<br />
AUDEMARS PIGUET (audemarspiguet.com),<br />
which made a splash with this year’s launch<br />
of CODE 11.59, a full-scale collection that<br />
includes an elegant perpetual calendar with<br />
a sparkly aventurine glass dial. While hardly<br />
radical, CODE broke from convention with<br />
a 41mm multipart case that alludes to the<br />
brand’s bread-and-butter Royal Oak, with<br />
an octagonal middle case and hexagonal<br />
screws. The double-curved concave/convex<br />
crystal visually enhances the dial.<br />
Tradition is a powerful force in<br />
watchmaking, and many new perpetual<br />
calendars adhere to established aesthetic<br />
codes with calendar information presented<br />
on three sub-dials, often paired with a moon<br />
phase display for good measure. In recent<br />
years, PARMIGIANI FLEURIER (parmigiani.<br />
com) has revisited its classical Toric collection,<br />
embodying Michel Parmigiani’s devotion to<br />
the golden ratio. This year, the brand presented<br />
a new variation of its first wristwatch, the<br />
Toric QP Retrograde, which debuted in 1999.<br />
The design’s signature hand-knurled bezel<br />
is preserved, while the case, lugs and crown<br />
have been subtly streamlined and tweaked<br />
for enhanced ergonomics. The new Toric<br />
Quantième Perpétuel Rétrograde features an<br />
instantaneously jumping retrograde date and<br />
a precision moon phase that requires only one<br />
correction every 122 years.<br />
The latest Master Ultra Thin Perpetual<br />
Enamel from JAEGER-LECOULTRE (jaegerlecoultre.com)<br />
has also undergone a stunning<br />
transformation with an updated JLC 868<br />
movement that rotates the displays 180<br />
degrees, placing the moon phase at the<br />
bottom of the dial. The 39mm white gold<br />
limited edition of 100 stands apart with its<br />
48 NetJets
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