« One complication, many variations »
Today, a date display is almost standard on men's watches and increasingly common on women's watches as well. It is now very likely by far the most widespread complication found on wristwatches. Various technical solutions have proven themselves for implementing this popular function.
The practical date complication: displaying the day of the month
Traditionally, telling the time takes no more than two or three hands. Accordingly, simple, elegant wristwatches are still often fitted with just two or three hands and do without any additional functions. True minimalists even opt for a single-hand watch and love the aura of calm that comes with such an instrument. In everyday life, however, most wristwatch wearers greatly appreciate being able to read not only the time but also the current date with a quick glance at the dial, without having to pull out their calendar or wake up their phone screen. That is why watchmakers frequently equip their products with date displays, and by no means only in the luxury segment.
With electronic timekeepers, this can be achieved relatively inexpensively and with comparatively little effort. Mechanical wristwatches, by contrast, require a dedicated complication for the date display, and the range extends from simple to far more elaborate constructions.
Digital display in a small date window
Probably the most popular variant is the small date window, which is usually positioned on the dial at 3 o'clock, at 6 o'clock, between 4 and 5, or occasionally elsewhere. In the simplest case, a disc printed with the numbers 1 to 31 turns continuously beneath it, so that the corresponding date appears in the little window. The current number sits most precisely in the window at noon; before and after midnight, on the other hand, it appears more or less cut off, because that is when the gradual change to the next date takes place.
A technically more complex version of the window date is the jumping date change. Here, the date disc does not move continuously but advances to the next date at exactly midnight. From an aesthetic standpoint, the small date window at 6 o'clock is often considered a particularly appealing and elegant solution, because it does not disturb the symmetry of the dial and creates an especially balanced overall impression. The date display between 4 and 5 may seem a little odd at first glance because of its angled position, but it offers the advantage of often being easier to read. The reason is that the arm is rarely held parallel to the body and in many situations is held at a slight angle instead.
The teardrop-shaped Cyclops lens – a hallmark of many Rolex watches
One drawback of the classic window date is that the date appears relatively small even on watches with a normal case diameter. A simple but effective way to noticeably improve legibility was first presented by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in 1954 on the Rolex Datejust. Supposedly inspired by the magnifying effect of a drop of water that had fallen onto the crystal of his own watch in the bathroom, he had a lens incorporated into the watch crystal that makes the small date window beneath it appear 2.5 times larger.
The so-called Cyclops lens subsequently became not only the hallmark of the Datejust but can also be seen on numerous other Rolex watches such as the Submariner, the Sky-Dweller, the Yacht Master, the Explorer II, the GMT-Master II, and the new version of the Rolex Sea-Dweller launched in 2017.
Easier on the eye: big date and panorama date
Another, technically more demanding variant of the window date is the panorama date, which, thanks to its larger format, is likewise easier to read. It is typical of various watches from Glashütte Original, as this manufacture is the only watchmaker to hold the patent for the original design of the panorama date. Instead of a single rotating disc, two concentric discs of different sizes are used, one showing the units and the other the tens.
The Glashütte manufacture A. Lange & Söhne uses, in some models, the so-called big date (Großdatum), in which not only are two discs superimposed, but the two digits in the display window are also separated by a central bar, so that there are actually two windows sitting closely side by side, one showing the tens and the other the units.
Day-of-the-week display and annual calendar
Other date display options, more complex than the simple date, also show the day of the week and, in some cases, the month. The day of the week or the month can be shown in a small window next to the date – as on the Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Day-Date Automatic or the Omega De Ville Hour Vision Annual Calendar.
Alternatively, the day of the week can appear in a separate window at 12 o'clock, as is the case with the Breitling Transocean Day & Date or the Rolex Day-Date. Yet another variant can be seen on the Oris Artix Pointer Day, Date, which combines a small window date with a day-of-the-week display by means of a hand.
Pointer date: the traditional solution
Today, the small date window is the most common form of date display on wristwatches. A historically older, more traditional variant, developed even before the era of the wristwatch, is the pointer date. This solution is particularly popular today on classic, elegant wristwatch models. In many cases, the date is indicated by an additional central hand on a circular scale running from 1 to 31. This scale can sit on the outermost edge of the dial, as on the Oris Big Crown Original Pointer Date, for example, or further inward, as on the Oris Artix Complication.
Accordingly, the date hand is usually longer or shorter than the seconds hand and, for easier distinction, is often fitted at its tip with colored markings or a small triangle or crescent moon. One variation of the pointer date is the date display via a small subdial, as found, for example, on the Glashütte Original Senator Pointer Date.
Beyond the date display: calendar week display, religious calendars, and perpetual calendar
Besides the "date classics" – window date, panorama date, and pointer date, possibly combined with the day of the week or the month – there are also more extensive solutions that combine time and date display with further information in a single instrument. Occasionally, for instance, you will come across a calendar week display, which proves especially useful for planning and managing business appointments. One example is the Junghans Meister Agenda.
In a few cases, individual manufactures have added religious calendars to their watches, which show the date of Easter, for example, or integrate the Hebrew calendar into the display. Such complications, however, are reserved for a handful of particularly exclusive models and occupy at most a small niche in the market. The perpetual calendar is regarded as an especially demanding complication in mechanical watches: it displays the date, the day of the week, and often the moon phase as well, automatically taking into account not only the varying lengths of the months but also leap years.
