Source: Rolex
It's one of the most fascinating and intricate complications the watch world has to offer because the date doesn't have to be adjusted until year 2100. Already in the collection of dozens of brands today, the perpetual calendar was never offered by Rolex, a brand famous, ironically, for its "Perpetual" marketing.
But a patent filed by Rolex late last year and made public this year has us hoping for 2024. One of the challenges in a perpetual calendar is the loss of energy at the oscillator when the movement has to instantaneous-jump three days, resulting in a drop of amplitude, the brand asserts in its filing introduction. In a breakthrough in amplitude conservation using a flexible component, Rolex said it has also built on innovations from previous patents — including the 9002 annual calendar movement equipping the 2023 Sky-Dweller — to build a semi-perpetual or perpetual calendar that minimizes energy loss while still being compact.