Perpetual calendars are many things – exclusive, impressive and all the rest. But typically they are not the easiest of timepieces to adjust, or (if we’re completely honest) read the date on at a glance. It’s an occupational hazard and goes with the territory. To paraphrase Mr B.I.G. – mo complications mo problems.

But, that doesn’t have to be the case. Over the month, we’ve explored a range of watches that have pushed the perpetual calendar forward as a category. And today’s entrant is no different. The Ateliers deMonaco Quantieme Perpetual QP-EZ is a watch that aims to make the perpetual calendar easy.

Before we get into how the watch achieves this, a quick detour into Ateliers deMonaco. Despite their name, the bespoke outfit makes watches in Plan-les-Ouates (allowing for that Geneva Seal flex) and was founded in 2008 by Pim Koeslag, Robert van Pappelendam and Peter Stas. From launching a company to launching an innovative, in-house perpetual calendar movement in three short years is no mean feat.

Which brings us to the watch itself. In designing this watch, the Ateliers deMonaco team, led by Koeslag, focused on five areas where the traditional perpetual calendar design could be improved. Readability, precision, reliability, the changing of the date, and adjusting the movement. And it must be said, the limited edition Quantieme Perpetual QP-EZ delivers on most of these points. Legibility is an easy win, with the vital calendar functions each given their own clear window rather than the more common system of small hands and busy subdials. Precision is looking good too, thanks to a high 4Hz beat rate and a silicon escape wheel. The date calendar functions don’t drag either and will change simultaneously within two minutes of midnight.

Where this 43mm by 13.1mm chunk of precious metal really shines is in the adjustment of the calendar itself. First of all, there’s no ‘danger-period’ when changing the calendar. Historically, these movements have been somewhat fragile during certain times, and advancing functions when they were engaged was a recipe for an expensive service. Likewise, there’s no risk you can damage the movement when adjusting the hands counter-clockwise. And then there’s the adjustment itself. All functions are manipulated via the crown, using the patented EaZy adjust. At the bottom of the dial is a function indicator, which comes into play when you pull the crown to the second position, which adjusts which function the monopusher crown operates. Once that’s done, pressing the crown’s pusher allows you to quickly and painlessly change the date, day, month or what-have-you.

And while the technical innovations of the Ateliers deMonaco Quantieme Perpetual QP-EZ are admirable, what’s as worthy is the dedication to making a notoriously complex watch simpler, and more convenient for the wearer.