WATCHES
Date night
Leave the calendar at home and get yourself a mechanical watch that tells you the time and day
WORDS: RICHARD HOLT
THE MOST BASIC FUNCTION ON A wristwatch, beyond the three hands that tell the time, is the date. At its most simple, it is a little wheel with 31 numbers on it that makes one jump every 24 hours. This is all fine, except of course for the fact that not all months have 31 days, so you often find yourself having to change it manually.
An annual calendar displays the month, as well as the date, and the month wheel has five extra fingers, one for each month with fewer than 31 days, allowing the mechanism to skip past number 31 and go straight to first day of the next month. An annual calendar runs accurately for the whole year, but will need adjusting at the end of February.