The Full Menu

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The Full Menu - Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin serves up a complete horological feast for Watches And Wonders 2021, from decadent starter to sparkling dessert.

There are some watchmakers that require extensive preparations before you go to see them, and I mean that in the best possible sense. Allow me to explain. You know how there are some Netflix shows that you can just play in the background while doing other stuff (cooking, ironing, literally anything) and there are some that need you to clear an entire evening, re-watch the preceding season and have all your favourite snacks within reach? And you know how there are some restaurants like the pizzeria on the corner where you can just grab something quickly when you’ve only got an hour to eat and nothing in the fridge, and then there are restaurants that you have to get ready for — weeks of researching the menu, reading online reviews, studying the chef’s biography and eating only organic raw salad for two days before going? Discovering the new releases of Vacheron Constantin is like the latter option in both those examples. You don’t go to see Vacheron Constantin on a day you have to multi-task. You don’t go to see Vacheron Constantin when you’re on a tight schedule. You go to see them when your day and your mind are clear and focused on nothing else. Because you’ll need that clarity, that focus, that space when you discover what they’ve prepared for you. 

Appetiser: Historiques American 1921

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

If there’s one collection that piques the interest and provokes the desire to dive deeper into what Vacheron Constantin can do, it’s the Historiques timepieces. They’re rarely too heavy in terms of mechanical complication, but they are exquisitely made, with a strong aesthetic flair, that lightly demonstrate the history of technical savoir-faire at the brand. The Historiques American 1921 is a niche creation of Vacheron Constantin, certainly, with additional appeal towards those who know of the timepiece’s origins in Jazz Age America.  Its continuous popularity among collectors shows that it represents an essential side of the brand that serves as the perfect introduction for Vacheron Constantin’s 2021 banquet of new releases.

Soup: Métiers d’Art Tribute To Great Explorers

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

The next course is a plunge into a complex blend of technique, history and storytelling, infused with one of the most delicate decorative arts in watchmaking. The Tribute To Great Explorers is not a new endeavour for Vacheron Constantin — they began this voyage in 2004, with a second assay in 2008. This year marks the third limited series of Tribute To Great Explorer timepieces, this time focusing on the Portuguese sailors who navigated the coast of Africa. The orientation of the time display has changed to better accommodate the map depicted, such that the wandering hour now traverses the right side, rather than the lower half, of the dial. The dial is executed in miniature painting, using the medium of grand feu enamel, which requires exceptional skill and experience.

Main Course: Les Cabinotiers Le Temps Céleste

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

This is the real show of power, the full exertion of horological savoir-faire at Vacheron Constantin, served in three parts (maximum star rating). The Regulator Perpetual Calendar Moonlight Jewellery may appear simple, with a de-centralised hour hand, central minutes, a combined moonphase and date display counter, and three small apertures displaying the day, month and leap year. Of course, the display is a hugely understated representation of the complication within this watch — the perpetual calendar, which automatically shows the correct calendric information despite the variation in number of days from month to month, even during leap years.

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

It isn’t a real banquet without musical accompaniment, which is provided by the Minute Repeater Tourbillon Sky Chart Leo Constellation Jewellery. A slide located at the 8 o’clock position on the watch activates the chiming mechanism of the famous in-house cal. 2755, widely acknowledged to be one of the best-sounding sonnerie movements in production today. A tourbillon rotates once per minute at the 6 o’clock position, while a hand-guilloché depiction of the constellation Leo, studded with diamonds to represent the stars, occupies the upper half of the dial. Visible through the transparent caseback, a sky chart makes one complete rotation in one sidereal day, a rare and refined indication of a time that exists outside our familiar 24-hour perspective.

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

While both the Regulator Perpetual Calendar Moonlight and the Minute Repeater Tourbillon Sky Chart Leo Constellation are gem-set and finely decorated, the last of the Les Cabinotiers trifecta of 2021 — the Armillary Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar Planetaria — is devoid of sparkling stones. Its mechanical splendour alone is dazzling enough to outshine the most prestigious gala evening. The armillary tourbillon, first seen in Vacheron Constantin’s watchmaking repertoire in 2016, is paired with a host of other complications, including indication of the moon phase in Northern and Southern hemispheres, day/night indication in both hemispheres and a perpetual calendar.

Palate Cleanser: Overseas Perpetual Calendar, Overseas Tourbillon, Traditionnelle Split Seconds Chronograph Collection Excellence Platine

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

With last year’s Overseas models finding widespread approbation — most notably demonstrated when the Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin Skeleton took the Calendar And Astronomy Prize at the 2020 edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève — Vacheron Constantin are continuing their hot streak with an expansion of this collection. The perpetual calendar and tourbillon mechanisms are well represented in 2021’s crop of Overseas timepieces, uniting the most traditional prestigious mechanisms of the 266-year-old manufacture with its sportiest case design.

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

Underlining this motif of traditional watchmaking patrimony is the latest addition to the Collection Excellence Platine, which has seen 20 models in total since it was initiated in 2006. The new Traditionnelle Split Seconds Chronograph Collection Excellence Platine presents this high complication in a platinum case (with platinum buckle and leather strap stitched with platinum thread) that fully matches the nobility of the cal. 3500 within — the only split seconds chronograph movement in the world featuring a peripheral rotor. This movement was first shown in 2015 on the occasion of Vacheron Constantin’s 260th anniversary, housed within the supremely elegant Harmony Split Seconds Chronograph. 

Taken together, the new Overseas models and the Traditionnelle Split Seconds Chronograph Collection Excellence Platine don’t overwhelm or bewilder the senses; they refamiliarise us with the kind of direct, straight-to-the-point, top-tier watchmaking that Vacheron Constantin does so well. It resets our horological tastebuds for the final course.

Dessert: Égérie Self-Winding Diamond-Pavé

Vacheron Constantin Watches And Wonders 2021

The launch collection of Égérie included high-jewellery models, fully diamond set, featuring a spectacular moon phase display adorned with smoked sapphire-crystal “clouds”. This year, Égérie lets its diamonds take even more of the spotlight. Two new fully set, automatic models in pink gold or white gold are available in the dainty case diameter of 35mm. As restrained as they may be in size, these new Égérie timepieces are certainly not shy about catching your attention. Dial, case, bezel and lugs are blanketed with brilliant-cut stones — 912 diamonds (just over 4 carats) in total. Those concerned about all the saccharine sweetness of all those diamonds will be reassured by the solid horological nutritional value provided by the automatic cal. 1088 within. There are no empty calories in a Vacheron Constantin feast.

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