It is easy to love and admire Citizen watch company for all their other ventures, but the Campanola line is really the top of Citizen’s game. A watch that combines the best computerized quartz movement Citizen can offer (hand assembled by the way), with highest level of watch craftsmanship available in Japan, results in a line of watches each stunning in their own way. None of the Campanola watches resemble anything out there, and Citizen has achieved the rare feat of being able to produce something unique yet classic looking at the same time.

Here we have a Citizen Campanola Perpetual Calendar with the tonneau-shaped case. The tonneau shape is common among high luxury watches for the presence it makes along with the surface area within the case to house extra complications. Looking inside the face of this watch you see a dazzling array of dials and hands, each perfectly polished. I have mentioned in other articles and the review of the Citizen Campanola Grand Complication that I own, the level of quality and craftsmanship that goes into the production of each Campanola watch. Each is handmade, and uses the finest watch parts available. Read the full review of the Citizen Campanola Grand Complication to learn more.

The Campanola Perpetual Calendar is a curious watch because at first glance the complications may seems a bit mysterious. Although not hard to read, it requires some inspection to understand what the watch is telling you. This is done on purpose and attempts to bring the wonder of looking at star map to your wrist. You soon become accustomed to the layout as it is quite intuitive as you will find. A perpetual calendar is one that does not need to be reset for various calendar changes such as varying days in a month and leap years. Not all perpetual calendars are the same. Less complex ones will be able to adjust for a normal year. Meaning it will know what months have 31, 30, or 38 days. However, in the event of a leap year, you will have to manually adjust the calendar. The more complex a perpetual calendar is, the more it tells you and the less you need to adjust it. This Citizen Perpetual Calendar will give you proper calendar information for a very long time. It even displays the year going for about 100 years (that is the function of the large spiraling dial). Only other watches costing about $100,000 will tell you that information in such a lovely and analog format (such as expensive perpetual calendars found on an IWC or Franck Muller watch).

With the year, month, leap year, date, and day of the week, you have just about every calendar function you need on this watch, and it really displays it with style. For example, The day of the week indicator is not a circular dial, but a jumping dial that will jump back to Sunday, right after Saturday. Notice the pictures on the auction page to see what I am referring to. The blue finish on the hands contrasted on the various textures in steel in one of the greatest classic styles you can find on a watch. This mixture of color and machine look has been around since the 18th century, and is still alive and well today. The Campanola series really excels at making “classic,” “modern,” with a hint of Japanese design and minimalism.

To top it all off, this Citizen Campanola would not be complete without its familiar and welcomed sonnerie function (chiming), that when activated will tell you what time it through a series of charming sounding chimes. This feature is available on most, but not all Campanola watches. This is a warm looking watch that is as eye catching as it is functional. No wonder that the Citizen Campanola line is so sought after. This one is being offered at an amazing price.

To view this lovely watch, check out the Citizen Campanola Perpetual Calendar on eBay here.