My favorite perpetual calendar of all time is the Ochs und Junior Perpetual Calendar. Yes, I might be a little biased because I own one. But in a sea of watches where complexity in parts and execution is celebrated, I love that the ochs und junior Perpetual Calendar exists to act as a (often polarizing) celebration of minimalism. In an infinitely customizable array of bespoke finishes, the dial eschews numerals and hands for dots and disks. Instead of a complex movement of 300+ parts, founder Ludwig Oechslin’s perpetual calendar complication comprises only 9 additional parts on top of a time-only Ulysse Nardin caliber. Most importantly, the perpetual calendar complication is completely forward and backward adjustable through the crown and the watch is water resistant to 100m, making it one of the most everyday-wearable perpetual calendars on the market.
If you’re unfamiliar with Ochs und Junior and Ludwig Oechslin’s design philosophy for the brand, I highly recommend reading his thoughts on date displays. You will see how his dots and circles language is an attempt to fix the “problem” with date windows as an indication. In personal experience, I’ve found the display on my perpetual calendar extremely intuitive, easy to read, and extremely discreet to outsiders since there’s no endless sea of text on the dial to account for the information the complication conveys https://www.highluxurystore.ru.
I also have to admit that I love the watch also because of the community around it. There have been plenty of die-hard Ochs und Junior fans I’ve met over Instagram who love to share their enthusiasm for the brand, and the entire creation process of my watch was also a sentimental one, getting to configure mine in their Lucerne HQ back in 2019 with co-founder and then-CEO Beat Weinmann. It’s definitely a very niche product within an already specific complication, but this leap year, I know exactly what watch is going to be on my wrist.
I’ll never understand why there is not more love for Habring². The brand is a different kind of independent. In a watch landscape where the majority of celebrated independents are heralded for producing watches “like they used to” with old-world craftsmanship at the forefront of brand identity, Habring² has a different idea of what it means to be an indy. Where your typical independent will draw on ideas like vintage Patek, Breguet, or pre-1900s escapement technologies, Richard and Maria Habring have roots on the more industrialized side of the watch world. And that shows. The brand hand-crafts a watch with a unique, very Austrian, eye for utility.
Maybe that is hard to wrap your head around but it differentiates the brand in an increasingly crowded space. Yes, many of their movements share an architecture with the Valjoux 7750 (or 7760). Some may snub their nose here but I implore those to see a Habring movement in the metal – this is not Valjoux quality or finishing. In fact, as of 2017, Habring² no longer uses a single part from Swatch Group, all components are either made in-house or sourced locally.
Now for the Chrono Felix Perpetual. In my eyes, this is the best watch yet from the brand. Previous criticism of Habring² offerings often centered around case size and thickness, this was first addressed in 2014 with the time-only Felix and culminates here in a 38.5mm x 13mm perpetual calendar chronograph. Those stats should jump off the page especially considering the last Habring² complication at this level, the Perpetual-Doppel, clocked in at 43mm x 12mm.
I’m in love with this watch. From the no-nonsense case with stepped bezel to the expertly proportioned dial design with eight uninterrupted Breguet numeral hour markers and an overall unfussy feel, the Chrono Felix Perpetual is everything I want in a perpetual calendar chronograph. I’ll be watching closely for future dial options, I just don’t love, love salmon dials, sorry https://www.highluxurystore.ru