The perpetual calendar complication has been a fascinating and useful feature on high-end watches for quite sometime. Calendar functions directly related to keeping the time, and offer a variety of information related to the 24 hour cycle. Most watches have just the date, and the more complex you get, the more calendar functions you can record. Annual calendars measure the day, date, and month - often the phase of the moon as well. The benefit for those is being able to avoid adjusting your watch each month that does not have a 31 day cycle. Though there is still the matter of dealing with a 29 day February.
Perpetual calendars step it up a notch by taking into consideration leap years, which occur each four years and affect the length of February. Perpetual calendars are named as such because they don't need to be adjusted very often. The next time any perpetual calendar watch needs to be adjusted (by one day) will be the year 2100. This sounds sexy even though none of us will be alive to adjust the date. Of course, the humorous part to me is that this is all based on the assumption that your mechanical perpetual calendar watch will be running for that long (and in good condition). Still, having such a long range calendar feels reassuring - like the watch has got your back. For me, this complication is not only one of the most impressive to see on a dial, but also one that is functional (I am talking to you Equation of Time!).
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