Patek Philippe 324 S QA LU Mode D'emploi page 15

ANNUAL CALENDAR
THE QUEEN OF USEFUL COMPLICATIONS
Introduced in 1996
Philippe, the Annual Calendar is the first time­
keeping mechanism that automatically displays
the month, the day of the week, and the correct
date under consideration of months with 30 and
31 days, so it must be adjusted only once a year on
March 1. Its construction represented a formidable
challenge. To eliminate rockers and levers to the
greatest possible extent, Patek Philippe's engineers
designed an architecture that relies mostly on
wheels and pinions. The caliber 324 S QA LU move­
ment consists of 328 parts (355 for the 324 S IRM
QA LU), whereas a conventional perpetual calen­
dar with a moon­phase display needs only about
280 components. In the meantime, the convenient,
well­organized, and user­friendly Patek Philippe
Annual Calendar is available in various versions
with different sets of displays. They constitute a
collection of timepieces that combine unique
functionality with timeless beauty. The calendar
indications are complemented by an extremely
precise moon­phase display that deviates from the
true lunar cycle by only one day every 122 years.
The self­winding models that incorporate the
caliber 324 S IRM QA LU movement feature a
power­reserve indicator at 12 o'clock.
PATEK PHILIPPE
and patented by Patek
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