Krayon C032-01 Anyday Review

There’s a lot of debate about date complications in the watch enthusiast world. Date placement matters, as do the date wheel's color and the finishing and adornments of the date window. The complication is always scrutinized, not just in its execution, but also in debates over whether it should be there at all. Independent watchmaker Krayon has taken this familiar complication and created something exceptional with it. The Anyday is a mechanical calendar watch that not only tells you what day it is, but also puts the entire month into perspective. 

Rémi Maillat, founder of Krayon, built the brand on a reputation for finding new, ingenious mechanical solutions to practical questions. The Everywhere and Anywhere watches explored the relationship between time and location, and the sun’s rising and setting, respectively. Krayon then released the Anyday, which turned the attention to calendars. 

The Krayon C032-01 Anyday features a beautiful and well-executed blue guilloché dial surrounded by an ingenious calendar display. A crescent-shaped pointer date travels around the dial's periphery and cups the day numerals. Meanwhile, two superimposed discs beneath the dial distinguish weekdays from weekends through contrasting colors that show through the numerals. So the crescent pointer doesn’t just highlight the day; it lets the wearer see where that date falls within the week and the month. 

It’s roughly the equivalent of opening the calendar app on your phone and seeing the layout of the month. If you need to take a quick look and see which dates make up the final weekend of the month, you can do that. Or you can see how many weekdays you have to work before starting your vacation in a couple of Saturdays. It’s like having your own mechanical planner on your wrist. 

And sometimes something that looks so deceivingly simple requires some complicated watchmaking. The Anyday has a movement made up of 378 components. It includes an intricate arrangement of cams, levers, and springs that synchronize the calendar indications. The mechanism requires correction five times a year, and you can set it all through the crown. This innovative movement is housed inside an elegant 39mm case made from 18K white gold, measuring just 9.5mm thick. Flip the watch over to reveal the movement through the exhibition caseback, and you’ll see that it’s beautifully finished as well. 

It’s the philosophy behind Krayon that makes their watches special, including the Anyday. They’ve taken something familiar and reconsidered how we both view and use it. Knowing the date is useful, but there’s something romantic about a mechanical watch that lets us visualize how that day fits into the rest of our lives.