For many watch enthusiasts, the sight of an eight-pointed cross immediately calls one thing to mind. And no, it isn’t the Knights Hospitaller or the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Instead, the distinctive symbol—whose origins trace back to Byzantium—has been closely associated with the Geneva watchmaker Vacheron Constantin since 1880, when the maison officially adopted the Maltese cross as its emblem.
“It was first published on the 10th of January, 1880,” Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin’s Style and Heritage Director, tells WorldTempus. “But it was not only a logo—it was also a seal created to protect our brand. And that is really very, very important.”
The eight-pointed cross was not originally conceived as a communication device or aesthetic marker. Rather, it served as a trademark designed to guard the brand against imitation.
“In the second half of the 19th century, various countries in Europe started to establish stamps or seals that would protect brands,” Selmoni explains. “That was the introduction of this notion of trademark—protecting your intellectual property.”
The symbol itself was chosen because of its resemblance to a movement component sometimes called the “Geneva drive,” used in certain timepieces to prevent overwinding. “It was a kind of limitation device for the mainspring, which was shaped like a Maltese cross,” Selmoni says.
Over time, that mechanical system gradually disappeared from the brand’s watchmaking. “This mechanism was present in some of our watches until probably the 1970s, especially in pocket watch movements where the mainspring is very large,” Selmoni notes. “Later, it was replaced with another system.”
Interestingly, the brand revived the concept in 2004—but for a different purpose. “We decided to reintroduce the Maltese cross in one movement for another reason,” Selmoni says, referring to the calibre 1226AT in its Tribute to Great Explorers series.
Today, apart from this selective mechanical use, the Maltese cross functions primarily as a symbol of identity and authenticity. It appears throughout the maison’s collections, most visibly in the Overseas line—whether in the cage of the Tourbillon Skeleton or subtly integrated into the bezel and bracelet of the Self-Winding model.
“When designing the Overseas case, one of the main questions was: ‘How can we clearly identify that timepiece as a Vacheron Constantin from three meters away?’” Selmoni says. “The idea was to draw inspiration from the Maltese cross.”
Beyond the watches themselves, the emblem shapes the brand’s broader visual language. It appears across communications—from the company’s website to its global network of boutiques. “If you think about all the boutiques we have, the Maltese cross is very much used as a design inspiration,” Selmoni says.
Ultimately, the symbol encapsulates what the maison stands for: watchmaking excellence, craftsmanship, and, above all, the enduring values that have always defined a Vacheron timepiece.
“When I think about Vacheron Constantin, this is the first thing that comes to mind,” Selmoni says. “Legacy and heritage are important, but I wouldn’t call them values—they are assets. The true values are craftsmanship, sophistication, refinement and elegance.”
