Swisswatches Salon: Perpetual Calendar Night Hamburg

The perpetual calendar, one of the most beautiful and poetic complications in watchmaking, celebrated a very special anniversary in 2025. A century had passed since Patek Philippe presented the first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar in 1926 with the Reference 97975. However, it was a one-off piece – series production then began with the Reference 1518 in 1941.

The anniversary was therefore a wonderful occasion for our first Swisswatches Salon, where we showcased the perpetual calendar in all its facets.

The stars of the evening: some of the best and most exciting perpetual calendar watches ever made, which had probably never before been brought together in one place and on one evening in this curated collection.

From Audemars Piguet’s newly developed perpetual calendar with calibre 7138 in sand gold, to Patek Philippe’s Perpetual Calendar Retrograde 6159G or Bulgari’s world’s thinnest perpetual calendar, to historical pieces such as the IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar, designed in the 1980s by legendary watchmaker Kurt Klaus, which revolutionised the usability of the perpetual calendar. But even lesser-known perpetual calendars from MB&F, Hermès and Panerai impressively demonstrated how diverse and innovative the watch industry is when it comes to calendar watches.

With the Swisswatches Salon, we have created a space for watch enthusiasts who share a genuine passion for mechanical watchmaking. It is a setting in which they can exchange ideas, experiences and perspectives in a discreet atmosphere – removed from the digital noise that so often dominates today’s discourse. Here, conversations centre on craftsmanship, design and the stories behind exceptional timepieces – not on trends.

For our first Swisswatches Salon, we welcomed our guests to a very special location: the “Mirror Chamber” of the JIN GUI restaurant in Hamburg. In this distinctive space, our guests not only gained in-depth insight into the perpetual calendar and had the opportunity to try on a selection of remarkable timepieces, but also presented rare and valuable pieces from their own collections, contributing to a distinguished and highly interactive exchange.