Dedicated followers of watchmaking will be well aware that IWC Schaffhausen’s perpetual calendar movement is one of its trump cards: unlike almost all others, it can be fully adjusted from the crown alone (most require separate, discreetly-hidden buttons on the side of the case for setting the month, day, year, etc). This apparently simple change required genius-level reengineering on the inside, and you will appreciate it when you realise how careful you have to be not to make a misstep setting a regular perpetual calendar. It’s Sir Lewis Hamilton’s choice and in tough, stealthy black ceramic, this is the go-anywhere, do-anything perpetual calendar.

Much like IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre has equipped its sportiest, most tool-watch range with what is stereotypically a complication more often found in leather-bound, dress-watch trim. We’ve argued before that in perpetual calendar form, the Polaris ought not to make sense but in fact, the busy dial makes the best use of the large case diameter. The modern watch customer wants everything from his or her watches – so why not a 100m water-resistant, gold-cased perpetual calendar? A quirky detail: the calibre includes a traditional moon phase display and a retrograde moon phase indicator for the opposing hemisphere. Because who wants to fly to the other side of the world and get caught out like that?

Mid-century design mavens will appreciate the High Life’s sleek, faintly retro case shape as well as the stylised lines of latitude and longitude that criss-cross the dial – a nod to the classic Pan Am logo perhaps, as this is a watch targeted at international travellers. But everyone will be stopped in their tracks by the price tag. There is not a zero missing: you really are looking at a perpetual calendar for just north of £8,000. Nor is there any underhand shadiness at work in terms of the mechanics inside – as you can read here, Frederique Constant has merely become very adept at offering top-drawer complications for the price of a simple automatic from some other brands. Leaving you a bit of leftover budget to live the high life in other senses, perhaps.

Where other watchmakers, for centuries, have asked themselves “how shall we display the complexity of a perpetual calendar?” H. Moser & Cie. – a name revived in the past 20 years – instead asked “what information do you truly need?” The result is a bona fide perpetual calendar made in-house and finished to a very high level, with a dial that’s barely more involved than a standard automatic. There is a date window: self-explanatory. A tiny stub of a hand sits next to the hours and minutes and uses the 12 hours to represent 12 months (March at three o’clock, July at seven o’clock, that sort of thing). For the sake of making sure it’s correctly set, a leap year indicator can be found on the back of the watch, but for the main part this is the perpetual calendar for svelte minimalists who are content to know more than they show.

At a shade over £24,000, you would not describe the Chopard LUC Perpetual Twin as cheap by any stretch. But in this league, it certainly could be argued that it represents good value. Especially as you are getting a high-grade movement, with all the expected decoration (and 65 hours of power) from a well-respected name. The stainless-steel case is partly responsible for the lower price tag (more in terms of perception than raw materials, however), but that just makes the Perpetual Twin an easier watch to wear every day. The dial is clearly descended from the archetypal layout, but expresses itself in a much more modern way with high-contrast subdials and a comparatively reduced amount of text. This is the perpetual calendar for the man who prizes quality, but is allergic to formality. We’re thinking Brunello Cucinelli sneakers and a comfy cashmere sweater.

A stealthy, monochrome makeover of Carl F. Bucherer’s flagship perpetual calendar, cased in forged carbon, this Manero lays out the usual information in four subdials with a double moon phase at six o’clock providing the only embellishment. The case itself is the showstopper, with no two possessing the same swirling pattern of carbon-fibre moulding. On the inside beats the brand’s in-house calibre CFB A2055 movement, with a 55-hour power reserve and a peripheral winding rotor (hence the name). This feature, a signature of the brand, blends the everyday usability of an automatic with the nerd appeal of a hand-wound movement by letting you see the finely finished components at work.