For the Only Watch 2023 Charity auction, Swiss watch brand Furlan Marri presents a unique piece of a secular perpetual calendar watch created in collaboration with renowned watchmakers Dominique Renaud and Julien Tixier.
The first secular perpetual calendar wristwatch was introduced by Andersen Genève in 1996. It accounts for leap years and secular years, and needs single adjustment once every 400 years whereas a classic perpetual calendar needs a correction in every 100 years.
The next secular year is 2100. The secular perpetual calendar will identify the fact that this is a special year and therefore automatically pass from February 28th, 2100, to March 1st, 2100 – whereas the date change on a classic perpetual calendar would be from February 28th to February 29th, considering it a leap year.
Furlan Marri has now created a simpler and easy to operate secular perpetual calendar watch in partnership with Dominique Renaud and Julien Tixier. This truly special timepiece will be auctioned during the Only Watch 2023 event on 05th November 2023.
Simplifying the secular perpetual calendar makes assembly and disassembly that much easier, besides improving its reliability. It has fewer components, but above all, adjustments that take advantage of the latest technologies to facilitate assembly. For instance, the large rocker, usually located in the middle of classic calendars, now became peripheral.
A secular module is grafted onto this perpetual calendar, making it accurate over the next 4 centuries, which make up the secular years. Of these 4 centuries, 3 will not be leap years. The secular assembly comprises just 5 parts, and the date module a total of 25.
The secular perpetual calendar by Furlan Marri comes with a simple, safe and easy to use interface. Instead of conventional push-button correctors, this timepiece features a rotatable ring that can be used to adjust the entire calendar, in either direction.
The date is set by turning the corrector to the right, and the days of the week by turning it to the left. The crown is for adjusting the hours and minutes. The corrector is equipped with a reset mechanism that automatically takes it back to its starting position.
In addition, unlike many other calendars, there is no risk of damage to the movement while the watch is being adjusted.
Following through on the concept of simplification, the watch offers an easy to read dial in blue titanium. The months of the year can be read all around the dial, freeing up space in the center. Also, the choice of a cam displaying 12 months of the year instead of a 48-month cam (displaying 48 months) makes for a cleaner dial, affording breathing space for the brand logo at 12 o’clock.
Both sub-counters – the one on the left indicating the days of the week, and the one on the right showing the date – are open-worked, revealing a plate gilded with 18K yellow gold that echoes the 18K-gold oscillating weight.
The central hand, which indicates the months, doubles as a leap year indicator. Here, the central hand features a Maltese cross that completes a rotation in 4 years and indicates leap years. The wheel rotates in 100 years, turning the Maltese cross to count non-leap years and enabling it to count the secular leap year every 400 years.
The watch comes with a 39mm diameter rhodium-plated silver case. The lugs are applied to the case, which is hand-turned as would be a piece of jewelry.
The secular module was developed by Dominique Renaud and Julien Tixier, based on La Joux-Perret’s G100 movement. The movement, made in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, has a power reserve of 68 hours.
Cut and beveled by hand by Dominique Renaud, the oscillating weight is a nod to his beginnings as a chamferer. The engraving of the oscillating weight was carried out by Coralie Mercier.
The entire secular perpetual calendar is machined, adjusted and finished by Julien Tixier. The plate is delicately sandblasted, then electroplated with a coat of 18K gold. The gears are circular-grained and the date cams black polished by hand. The steel springs are straight-grained and beveled by hand, too.
The titanium peripheral ring undergoes an anodic oxidation treatment. The steel day and date hands are flame-blued and the hour and minute hands polished; the month hand in polished titanium bears the leap-year cam indication in the form of a Maltese Cross. The dial is then given an anodic oxidation treatment, resulting in a visually arresting blue-to-gray, birefringent effect.
The Furlan Marri Only Watch 2023 is paired with a silver Milanese mesh bracelet, entirely handcrafted by Laurent Jolliet.
Technical details
Model: Secular Perpetual Calendar by Furlan Marri x Dominique Renaud x Julien Tixier, Unique Piece for Only Watch 2023
Functions
Hours, minutes, date, day of the week, month, leap year indication on central hand
Secular perpetual calendar with 400-year leap and secular year calculation
A single corrector for the entire module:
– Global calendar correction: days, date and month (turn to the right)
– Quick weekday correction (turn to the left)
Hours and minutes are set using the crown
Dial
Blue titanium dial with an in-house anodic oxidation treatment
Hands
Hand-crafted by Julien Tixier, including the Maltese cross on the central month hand
Weekday and date: blued steel
Hours and minutes: polished steel
Months: polished titanium
Sub-counters
Open-worked, diamond-cut, revealing a delicately sand-blasted plate gilded with 18K yellow gold, echoing the 18K yellow gold oscillating weight
Indications engraved in the dial
Counter flanges in titanium
Case
Rhodium-plated silver
Diameter: 39 mm
Thickness: 11.3 mm
Hand-engraving on caseback by Coralie Mercier
Movement
G100 by La-Joux-Perret
Frequency: 4 Hz
Oscillating weight in 18K yellow gold, hand-beveled by Dominique Renaud and hand-engraved by Coralie Mercier in the Vallée de Joux, Swiss Jura Mountains
Number of components: 164
Number of jewels: 24
Hand-finished by Julien Tixier: Wheels circular-grained and calendar cams mirror-polished by hand
Module
Developed in-house and patented
Number of components of the complete perpetual calendar module: 25
Including the number of secular module components: 5
Module thickness: 1.25mm
Modular plate made from arcap alloy, gilded with 18K yellow gold
Bracelet
Milanese mesh bracelet and clasp in rhodium-plated silver, entirely hand-crafted by
Laurent Jolliet
Additional calf leather strap provided
Estimate
CHF 20,000 – 30,000
