An eternity has neither a temporal beginning nor an end and is independent of the phenomenon of time. In this sense, the IWC Da Vinci perpetual calendar is a finite calendar. This also corresponds more to the original meaning of eternity as "long period of time". Through theological influences, the term eternity only later took on the meaning of timelessness in the sense of infinity. In philosophy, time is described as the form of changes or the sequence of events perceived by human consciousness. By the changes the impression of a direction of the time arises for us. Whether the time flow can have only one direction and whether this is unlimited, science is not quite clear about it. With it we are already in the area of the relativity theory and exciting topics like causality, curvature of the space-time or the so-called wormholes. In comparison, a Grande Complication like the perpetual calendar with its 87 individual parts seems simple and tangible ag

The history of the first mechanical watch, which can display the correct date until the year 2499, could also have been very short. IWC launched this particular model in the middle of a time when mechanical watches were not in great demand. There was corresponding skepticism at the Schaffhausen manufacture. Nevertheless, IWC launched the Da Vinci model at the Basel Watch Fair in 1985. Against all the worst fears, it became a sensational success. It was the first mechanical watch that could cope with the unevenness of the Gregorian calendar almost without the user's intervention. The complete four-digit year is displayed, the first two digits of which on the century slide only have to be mechanically advanced once every 100 years. All its calendar indicators are synchronized with each other and can even be advanced together by day via the crown. The mechanical programming had been designed by the talented watchmaker Kurt Klaus - as a module, which was placed on a common Valjoux caliber 7750. With the replacement of a new small slide, the Da Vinci can then display the exact date again for centuries in the year 2499 - so to speak until all eternity.