Fans of the original IWC Da Vinci — the watch that democratised the elite perpetual-calendar chronograph complication back in the 1980s — will be heartened to hear the company is releasing a newly redesigned Da Vinci in its original round shape.

This edition, however, features a completely manufacture-made movement equipped with the sliding-pinion chronograph base the company introduced in 2006 and a modified version of former technical director Kurt Klaus's famous crown-adjustable perpetual calendar with year display. Special accommodation had to be made for a moon-phase display, which sits inside the hour and minute counters at 12 o'clock.

With all of these upgrades, the IWC Da Vinci in rose gold, $45,000 (about $A59,300) iwc.com, is as disruptive to the other elite perpetual-calendar chronographs on the market as was the original.