HOURS AND MINUTES
The Islamic Calender shows 12 hours and 60 minutes like a tradi-tional watch, but with arabic or indian numbers as they are used in Arabic countries
The movement works with highest precision
It is resistent to temperature change
It’s highest level Swiss made
THE MOON PHASE
Here we see the moon phase. It is especially big and works with a precision of 1:1’000’000 days
It is the central element of the Islamic Calendar
The whole calender is permanently adjusted to the crescent’s first thin line that marks the beginning of a new month
The constant adaptation to the astro-nomical ‘new light’ makes the watch a secular one, that could turn for ten thousands of years
DAYS AND DATES
The watch shows the 7 days of the week and 29 or 30 days of a lunar month
Pair months (2, 4, 6 …) have 29 days, unpair months (1, 3, 5 …) have 30 days
In abundant years the 12th month has not 29 but 30 days
The recurring 7 days and 29/30 dates of each month are the most stable elements of the Islamic Calendar
We can desconnect them from the calender movement in case the moon’s first thin line can’t be seen clearly
Days and dates are designed as a co-axial complication
THE NIGHT OF DOUPT
Sometimes the old wise men in the religious communities can’t identify the new light clearly (the so called Night of Doubt)
This happens for astronomical reasons (position of earth and moon), when there are clouds, when storm or smog hide a clear view
To adjust the calendar astronomically we can isolate its movement by a button in the case
A red dot indicates the isolation of the calendar movement
Once the sight is clear, we unlock the calendar movement by another button and adjust it to the correct date
To produce our calendar on a less prestigious level this function could be skipped
MONTH
The 12 months in the Islamic calendar have 29 or 30 days
This results in a year with 354 or 355 days
If the last month combines with an abundant year, it has 30 days
A complete year in a lunar calendar makes the seasons pass through the 365 days of a solar year we use in the West
The coded cycle of abundant years produces an irregular, algorithmic function
Beginning of the month can be disconected in case of missing view of the first new moonlight
YEAR
The abundant years in the Islamic Calendar are positioned in a 30 years cycle with irregular positions
19 normal years and 11 abundant years are counted in a full cycle
Abundant years occur in the following years:
2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 29
2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, 29
The Islamic calendar started in July 622 of our Christian calendar
So, today we are in the year 1’444 of the Islamic Calendar
The rules of the Islamic Calendar are that brilliant that the calendar never needed to be reformed
ABUNDANT YEARS
The algorithm of the 30 years cycle is mechanically coded in the calendar movement
To calculate the irregular abundant years we use a mechanical microprocessor
This technology allows to calculate irregular movements, forwards and backwards
If we compare this to a computer, our microprocessor calender uses a memory of 70 KB
To be in line with the Quran we limit the years to 10.000 or less
TOURBILLON
Part of the watch is a tourbillon to increase its precision and prestige
To produce our calendar on a more modest level the tourbillon could be skipped
CORRECTIONS
All day, date, month and year changes work semi-instantly (around two hours of process time)
This is necessary to have a stable energy flow within the calendar movement
All calendar elements can be adjusted bi-directionally
