Interview with Christian Selmoni, Style & Heritage Director

Just over one month into a new job, but with 27 years of experience at Vacheron Constantin, Christian Selmoni spoke with our editor-in-chief.

How did you first come to work at Vacheron Constantin?

I was born into a family of watchmakers in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland. I joined the Vacheron Constantin 27 years ago after few years in finance. After several positions within the company in the sales and product development departments, I was appointed Artistic Director. This included the artistic crafts and bespoke watches, which I looked after until this year before being appointed Style and Heritage Director. The Heritage part is the big challenge for me because it is a different kind of job and I need to add value to the work of the existing team with my experience. This will take the form of research projects that will allow us to propose new ideas.

You are tasked with cultivating Vacheron Constantin’s extensive heritage but at the same time working on new developments. How do you reconcile the contradiction between tradition and modernity?

Part of the challenge of working with the brand’s heritage is how you can develop it. It can give us great inspiration for new products but we also need cutting-edge technology to produce some components and offer functions that would not be possible using more traditional methods. For the manual chronographs we presented in 2015, for example, we had some components with a shape that could not be produced by traditional methods, so we used electroforming. We can also achieve a greater precision for the hands by using the latest techniques for cutting gear wheels. Typically, these are positive benefits from new technologies.

Are there any red lines that you would not cross?

We are a classic brand working at the top of the range, so precious metals are our core business. There is not much likelihood of using new or different metals, mainly because this is not what our customers want. We used titanium in the Quai de l’Ile collection in 2008, for example, and it seemed logical at the time for its lightness. But we found that our customers were not necessarily looking for lightness in a Vacheron Constantin watch. 

The same is true for the movement. Even 10 years after silicon was first used in watch movements there is still a huge controversy over its reliability in the long term. At Vacheron Constantin we can repair any watch that the company has produced since 1755, reproducing components from scratch if required, which is why we prefer traditional metals and alloys. 

Since you have been heavily involved in the artistic side of things at Vacheron Constantin, are you pleased to see a brand like Hermès joining the SIHH?

Hermès produces some fantastic artistic crafts watches and I know my alter ego there very well [Editor’s note: Philippe Delhotal] and we talk to each other regularly. I think it will bring some stimulating competition. 

 

 

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