The perpetual calendar is one of the great traditional complications — a watchmaking innovation that can calculate the varying number of days in each month, including anomalies like the 29 days in February during leap years. That said, traditional perpetual calendars do have a few drawbacks: dates can skip; they are relatively easy to damage if adjusted while the date is changing; and the constructions of the complication is usually a compromise consisting of a module powered by a base movements. Offering a functional, but stunningly elegant solution to these problems is MB&F and independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, who combined to create the Legacy Machine Perpetual, which features a visually arresting in-house movement that was developed specifically to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional perpetual calendars.

The new 581-component, fully integrated and purpose-built movement is controlled by a “mechanical processor” and was designed from scratch for trouble-free use. In other words, the Legacy Machine Perpetual ensures there will be no more skipping dates or jamming gears, and the adjuster pushers automatically deactivate when the calendar changes. The fact that such intricate machinery looks as great as it does — and can be appreciated dial-side — is just icing on the cake, and proves that complexity can indeed be simplified with integrity and beauty.