Krayon continues with its focus on calendar-related complications with the Anyday. Coming after the Anywhere and Everywhere, the Anyway is not an astronomical complication, but rather a seemingly-simple watch, albeit one with a twist.

The Anyday is more than just a basic calendar watch as it offers an intuitive way of visualising the days of a month. Krayon describes the Anyday as a “mechanical planner”, with its display giving a complete view of the current month’s layout in terms of dates and weekends via a colour-coded date display.

Initial thoughts

Since the Anyway shows the days of the week over the course of a month, the utility of the concept is clear. It allows the wearer to tell if a certain future date will be a Monday or Tuesday, for example. Design wise, the Anyday also continues with Krayon’s established aesthetic, resulting in a recognisable house style.

The quality of execution also lives up to the earlier Krayon timepieces. The movement is carefully finished and bears the hallmarks now requisite in high-end independent watchmaking, while the dial is clean and conveys the Krayon aesthetic well.

The weekday planning function is useful and conceptually interesting, but it is little disappointing in mechanical terms, especially in comparison to the Anywhere and Everywhere, which are true complication powerhouses. A annual calendar or another basic calendar complication would have made the proposition a little more appealing. That is not to say the Anyday is an undesirable watch, but the price arguably demands more.

The Anyday costs CHF88,000, or almost US$100,000, which feels a little steep, especially for what is essentially a simple-date complication overlaid with a clever day display. That said, the price also partly reflects the overall state of the market for such watches, which is at a historical high.

A mechanical simple creation from an independent watchmaking that is based on impeccable craft alone is arguably less interesting today, since so many are doing it. This particular segment has become rather crowded in recent years. That very popularity of highly decorated time-only watches perhaps explains why Krayon has debuted the Anyway.

A new calendar complication

Calendar complications can range from simple date indicators to perpetual calendars, showing the user everything from the day of the week to the week of the year and oftentimes even the moon phase. The Anyday only shows the date, via a half moon-shaped pointer, in an intuitive and clear manner.

The date scale is spread out around a recessed sapphire ring around the periphery of the dial. The date ring itself contains the innovative mechanical planner indication. Because the ring is sapphire, the date numerals are transparent, with weekdays indicated by dark blue, while a tinted disc underneath the date ring resulting in white date numerals for the weekend.

As a result, the date indicator has two shades, dark blue for weekdays and white for weekends. At a glance, the wearer can see whether a certain date falls in the weekend or not, and Wednesday next week will be the 15th of a month for example.

The date scale also includes four dots at the six o’clock position, between the “31” and “1” indications. These dots are also transparent and form a four-day preview of the coming month, as the date display works on a five-week model. In other words, the dots indicate if the first four days of the coming month are weekdays or weekends.

When the month ends, the crescent date pointer jumps to the 1st of the month, alongside with the tinted disc underneath.

However, the Anyday is not a perpetual or annual calendar, so any adjustments need to be done manually by the user for months with less than 31 days.

Excellent execution

The dial is done to Krayon standards. The raised centre features Krayon’s “Y” guilloche cut deep into the dark blue base. The “Y” motif is echoed by the facetted hour indices as well. Likewise, the hands are faceted and polished to a high degree, making for an overall refined presentation. 

The 18K white gold case is nicely sized at a 39 mm in diameter with a 9.5 mm thickness. Inside lies the C032, which powers the mechanical calendar planner. 

The execution is impressive, with Krayon’s signature movement architecture laid bare. The heart of the day and date mechanism are two cams and their respective jewelled roller levers that are visible at the six o’clock position. It is important to note that the date (and day disc at the end of the month) makes a crisp, instantaneous jump at midnight, similar to Rolex Day-Date. 

The finish is equally impressive. The German silver bridges are covered in arched Geneva stripes inspired by the map of the Neuchatel region where region where Krayon is based, while polished, rounded edges outline the bridges. The movement appears almost monochromatic, with hints of red and gold coming from the ruby bearings and gilded parts.

Caliber C032 runs for 72 hours on a full wind and its free-sprung balance beats at a 4Hz beat rate. There is also a hacking function for setting the time, although the Anyday doesn’t have a running seconds hand. 

Key Facts and Price

Krayon Anyday

Diameter: 39 mm
Height: 9.5 mm
Material: 18K white gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water-resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. C032
Functions: Hour, minutes, along with date and day of the week over a month
Components: 378
Winding: Hand-wound
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 72 hours

Strap: Blue grained calfskin leather with 18K white gold pin buckle

Limited edition: No, but limited production
Availability: From Krayon retailers
Price: CHF88,000 before tax

For more, visit Krayon.ch.