CONCORD Caliber 288 Instruction Manual page 3

CALIBER 288
YOU HAvE jUsT ACqUIREd
A UnIqUE TIMEPIECE...
The Perpetual Calendar Chronograph that you have just acquired
is a masterpiece of precision micro-mechanics. It is the result of the
passionate work of master watchmaker and, for this reason, is reserved
for enthusiasts of crafted watchmaking. We congratulate you for being
one of them.
Read these few pages carefully, they include precious information about
the use and service for your Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. We hope
you will derive as much pleasure from your new watch as we did from
its manufacture.
4
A bRIEf HIsTORY Of
A GREAT COMPLICATIOn
The perpetual date mechanism was first introduced in the early 18th
century. The mechanical reflection of the year as it passes; it takes into
account the variable number of days of the months in ordinary and leap
years. A watch with perpetual calendar therefore avoids its owner having
to correct the date manually... until 2100, a non-leap year. Up until the
Middle Ages, the calendar referred to the moon. But the lunar year
was shorter by ten days that the earth's rotation around the sun. There
were unending discrepancies. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted the
"Gregorian" calendar and deleted, that same year, ten whole days: the
day after 4 October was therefore the 15th. Further, to eliminate any
additional risk of discrepancy, he extended August by one day, taken
from February and decided that in centenary years (1600, 1700, etc.),
those that are divisible by 400 would be leap years. Since then, highly
complex mechanisms have been created, but up until this day, none
has been able to extend the perpetual nature of their mechanism
beyond the non-leap year centenary years. As the next is 2100, even
watches with a perpetual calendar will have to be adjusted to delete 29
February. Despite this "defect" , the perpetual calendar is still one of the
watchmaker's finest achievements.
CALIBER 288
5