IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Edition Kurt Klaus

IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Edition Kurt Klaus. It's a bargain at US$32,000. That is a lot of greenbacks, but mechanical watches with a perpetual calendar and chronograph complication are few and far between and often can cost over six figures. The IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Edition Kurt Klaus, is named in honor of one of IWC's master watchmakers, who spend 50 years with the company.

As a fitting tribute to a master watchmaker, it is a perpetual calendar watch which places into the elite category of grand complications. In addition to the perpetual calendar complication, it also has the chronograph complication.

Perpetual Calendar. Many watches display the date on their dial. But since some months have only thirty, twenty-nine of twenty-eight days, you need to adjust the date at least five times per year. A perpetual calendar is a mechanism that automatically takes into account the varying number of days in each month as well as leap years so that the watch displays the correct date each month without the need of adjuctment. A perpetual calendar watch will not need correction for more then a century.

Powering the IWC perpetual calendar is the IWC Calibre 79261 movement. It is a self-winding movement which produces 28,800 vibrations per hour with a sufficient 44 hour power reserve. The IWC Calibre 79261 movementwhich has been in existence for more than 20 years now, unchange. But there is really no need to mess with perfection.

This highly complicated movement displays a the year in four digits in a small aperture at the between the seven and eight o'clock positions. The dial has four subdial. The one at the 12 o'clock position displays the moonphase and the 30 minute totalisator for the chronograph function. The sub-dial at the 3 o'clock positon displays the date. The sub-dial at the 6 o'clock position has two hands, one two display the months and the other the 12 hour totalisator for the chronograph function. Finally, the sub-dial at the 9 o'clock positions displays the day and continous seconds. With five dials and nine hands, this watch is a thing of beauty and a clear display of watchmaking prowess.

The dial of the watch bears the signature of Kurt Klaus, and his portrait is engraved at the back.The watch comes in rose gold and a lower cost stainless steel model, but a watch like this should be encased in precious metals. The 43mm case is water resistant to 30 meters.

Did we forget to say it is a limited edition? The rose gold version is limited to a production run of 500 pieces, while the stainless steel version is limited to a run of 3,000 pieces. This same watch has been previously offered in platinum and white gold, also limited editions.

About IWC. IWC or the the "International Watch Co. Schaffhausen" was founded by an American engineer from Boston, Florentine Ariosto Jones, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in the year 1868. IWC Schaffhausen is notable for being the only major Swiss watch factory located in eastern Switzerland, as the majority of the well-known Swiss watch manufacturers are located in western Switzerland.