Vacheron Constantin has unveiled one of the most extensive introductions of complicated watches at this week’s virtual Watches & Wonders Geneva. The venerable brand, founded in 1755, has been creating Haute Horlogerie watches for centuries and continues to refine and innovate. Vacheron Constantin is known for its almost obsessive dedication to perfect craftsmanship, and it has the kind of heritage and know-how it takes to experiment with complicated watchmaking concepts and hit the mark every time.
Among the many new releases for 2021 includes the Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin Skeleton in white gold. This timepiece utilizes a sapphire dial, with touches of blue through the dial framing minutes scale and blue rings of the calendar complications. The moon phase retains its starry blue backdrop as well, but the moons are fashioned in pink gold to aid in legibility. The hands and hour markers are fashioned in white gold, but in this instance, the hour markers are applied directly to the sapphire of the dial. The hour markers, as well as the hours and minutes hands, are filled with SuperLumionova® to increase visibility in darkness.
Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers Atelier produces one-of-a-kind pieces including the newest creation, the 46mm Planetaria, a grand complication that was four years in the making and required four prototypes. The timepiece is fully loaded with a double-axis tourbillon with a spherical hairspring; 31-day retrograde jumping perpetual calendar with day, date, and month; spherical double hemisphere moon phase orbs (one for each hemisphere); 24-hour and day/night indication; leap year; hours, and minutes.
As part of the Les Cabinotiers Le Temps Celeste series, one of the standout pieces is the Minute Repeater Tourbillon Sky Chart Leo Constellation watch. This 18k white gold stunning two-sided timepiece offers hours, minutes, small seconds, tourbillon, minute repeater, and a sky chart, as well as boasting 58 hours of power reserve. What makes the watch so special, in addition to the complex in-house-made Caliber 2755 manual-winding movement, is the stunning hand-guilloche Leo constellation on the dial. The sky chart is a disk that rotates at a speed of sidereal time (23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds).
Also at the Watches & Wonders watch fair, Vacheron Constantin announced a trio of pieces called Historiques American 1921, a cushion-cased threesome with diagonal dials and offset crowns that embody the louche grandeur and creative expressionism that flooded the world 100 years ago. With its unique dial set at a 45-degree angle, the watch was said to have appealed to the era’s drivers, who could take in the time without having to release their hands from a steering wheel. The movement common to each is Vacheron’s in-house Calibre 4400 AS and has a sapphire crystal case back. Owners should only have to wind this watch every third day, thanks to a 65-hour power reserve.
Rounding out the remaining 2021 timepieces introduced by Vacheron Constantin this week are the Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin in white gold, the Overseas Tourbillon, and the Traditionnelle Split-Second Chronograph. The 41.5mm perpetual calendar is as ultra-thin as its name suggests — a mere 8.1mm thick. The dial has a blue lacquered tone and satin sunburst finish with white gold hands and applied hour markers (filled with SuperLuminova®) to match the case and bracelet. The Overseas Tourbillon marks the first time an Overseas Tourbillon has been paired with 18K 5N pink gold. The 42.5mm case is 10.39mm thick and is water-resistant to 50 meters. Within this watch is the Vacheron Constantin caliber 2160, the first self-winding tourbillon movement from the esteemed brand. The Traditionnelle Split-Second Chronograph is powered by the thinnest self-winding 3500 Caliber created in-house for the brand’s 260thanniversary in 2015. The 42.5mm watch is crafted in platinum, and the exceptional movement offers a column-wheel split-second chronograph with a 60-minute counter.
For more timepiece releases announced at Watches & Wonders 2021, check out the Hermès 2021 H08 Collection.