Patek Philippe Ref. 5726 Nautilus Annual Calendar

The familiar Nautilus dial, with its horizontal embossed pattern, has the day of the week and month displayed below 12 o’clock in twin in-line apertures. The moon-phase and 24-hour indicators are combined in a subdial and overlap the date window at 6 o’clock. The gold hands and applied hour markers on the model with the white dial are blackened to make them easier to read in daylight. On both models, the hands and hour markers have luminescent coating for legibility in the dark.

An annual calendar differs from a perpetual calendar in that it compensates for the length of every month except February, after which the date will need to be reset, whereas a perpetual calendar adjusts for the length of all 12 months, including leap-year Februaries. The popularity of annual calendars may owe to the fact that they are a more “accessible” high complication than perpetuals, which are extremely challenging to make and thus incredibly expensive. This Nautilus Annual Calendar is priced at $47,600, whereas prices on Patek Philippe’s perpetual-calendar watches can approach, or exceed, $100,000. (Click on the images below for larger images.)