One of the headline releases from Geneva Watch Days is, without question, the Berneron Quantième Annuel, a symmetrical annual calendar that brings the brand’s vision into sharper focus. Expensively made and cleverly designed inside and out, the Quantième Annuel is a showcase for founder Sylvain Berneron’s attention to detail.

A limited run of 480 pieces in platinum, with production spaced evenly over the next decade, the Quantième Annuel is available in two dial configurations; whether the buyer opts for lacquered silver or piano black, the dial itself, along with much of the movement, is crafted from 18k gold.

Initial thoughts

I’ve written effusively about user-friendly complications in the past so it should come as no surprise that I like the Quantième Annuel’s legible display and intuitive interface. Visually, it’s a world apart from the oozy Mirage, but it exhibits a similar degree of intellectual sophistication and attention to detail.

A jumping hour watch with an instantaneous annual calendar, the Quantième Annuel is distinguished by its oversized windows for the hour, day, and month, with a sector-style dial for the minutes and a concentric retrograde date display. The running seconds dial at six o’clock contains the fourth jumping window for the day/night indicator; a useful addition for any calendar watch.

The watch is designed for easy legibility, with the time read top-to-bottom and the date read left-to-right. The sector dial for the minute hand occupies the center of the dial, which prevents the minute hand from overlapping the hour window; a detail that many jumping hour watches get wrong.

The Quantième Annuel’s round case seems simple at first, especially next to something like the Mirage. But Berneron has garnered attention for doing things the hard way, and that can be seen here in the form of a complex 38 mm platinum case that features replaceable protective steel bumpers for the bezel, lugs, and crown, which features a push-button release for the hinged case back. Well proportioned at 10 mm in height, the case is further embellished with large flush-fitting correctors for the day and month displays.

The logical jumping display is powered by a new proprietary movement developed specifically for the Quantième Annuel. Symmetrical in layout, the cal. 595 is manually wound and provides 100 hours of power reserve from dual mainspring barrels. The movement was conceived with safety in mind; the date can be set at any time of the day or night, and the user can cycle through the days and months without locking up the movement.

Based on the supplied images, the movement appears to be finished to the same degree and in the same style as previous Berneron calibers. Subjectively, I find the house style for the Côtes de Genève a bit too heavy visually, but the black polished balance bridge is airy and elegant. We’ll provide a more detailed evaluation of the finishing once we’ve gone hands-on.

This ground-up approach to design comes at a cost, and the Quantième Annuel starts at CHF120,000 for delivery in 2026, with prices set to rise to CHF140,000 by 2028. There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a hefty sum for mid-tier complication, significantly higher than what Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Söhne charge for the same functionality. That said, Berneron’s approach is more original in both concept and construction, and given the smaller scale of production I think the market will find this pricing tolerable.

Clever kerning

Great calendar watches exhibit a keen understanding of the priority of information; the very best do so with flair. There’s a considered orderliness to the Quantième Annuel that reveals itself under close scrutiny.

For example, the markings for the retrograde date are evenly spaced according to the size, rather than the value, of each digit. Eagle-eyed enthusiasts will note that the 18th day takes up the middle position on the scale, improving resolution at the end of the month. This presumably requires some asymmetry in the gearing, but results in a more visually balanced presentation.

Protecting the platinum

The case of the Quantième Annuel is made primarily of platinum, but features replaceable “bumpers” in 904L stainless steel. In this regard, the construction of the case resembles that of the Grand Seiko Kodo Tourbillon, which features a platinum inner case protected by a titanium exoskeleton.

As shown in the accompanying diagram, the bulk of the case, 85% of its mass, is platinum, and the steel bumpers are designed to help the watch hold up to daily wear and provide a low-cost way of keeping the Quantième Annuel looking like new without the need for refurbishment.

The case is also interesting due its flush-fit pushers at four and eight o’clock that adjust the month and day, respectively. Unlike typical date correctors that sit flush the case flanks, these pushers are broad enough to actuate with a finger tip, so no stylus is required.

Symmetry and safety

The proprietary cal. 595 was developed at a cost of CHF1.7m according to Berneron, specifically for the Quantième Annuel and features the same side-to-side, top-to-bottom arrangement as the dial. This layout is not accidental, and illustrates the extent to which the team at Berneron are willing to go to deliver on a particular theme.

Like the cal. 233 in the Mirage that came before it, the cal. 595’s movement plates and bridges are made of solid 18k gold, a detail that adds both physical and emotional weight to the construction. While F.P. Journe has been making gold movements for the past two decades, it remains an uncommon practice.

The movement offers 100 hours of power reserve from twin mainspring barrels; the first barrel is partially exposed, while the second is concealed beneath the ratchet wheel, on the opposite side of the movement relative to the crown, next to a large and lovely grande sonnerie-style winding click.

The train is entirely hidden beneath the main plate, which keeps the appearance neat and tidy and gives an air of mystery to the free-sprung balance, which held in place by an open-worked steel bridge.

Functionally, the cal. 595 is distinguished by four large instantaneous jumping apertures for the hour, day, month, and day/night indicator. These windows are unusually large, necessitating overlapping discs for that make full use of the movement’s 30 mm diameter.

All else being equal, more size means more mass, which means more energy is required to accelerate the discs through their rotation. To minimise the burden on the timing train, energy is built up slowly and stored in four different tension springs to ensure the discs click cleanly into place even toward the end of the power reserve.

According to Mr Berneron, a year was spent developing these capabilities, and another year was spent making sure the movement is protected from user error. Not only is there no dead zone, meaning the day, date, and month can be adjusted at any time of the day or night, but the movement automatically resets to the first day of the month if the user attempts to set the watch to a nonexistent date, such as September 31.

Key facts and price

Berneron Quantième Annuel

Diameter: 38 mm
Height: 10 mm
Material: Platinum with steel bumpers
Crystal: Sapphire crystal
Water-resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. 595
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, annual calendar with day/night indicator
Winding: Hand-wound
Frequency: 21,600 bph (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 100 hours

Strap: Leather strap with steel pin buckle

Limited Edition: Yes, 24 per year in each colour over 10 years
Availability: Directly from Berneron
Price: Starting at CHF120,000 (excluding taxes) for delivery in 2026, with prices rising progressively for successive years

For more, visit berneron.ch.