Vintage
Tick Talk's exploration of Vacheron Constantin's calendar watches offers a compelling look into the brand's horological heritage. This article, originally a forum post, meticulously traces the evolution of calendar complications from their earliest manifestations in Vacheron Constantin's history. It serves as an invaluable resource for understanding the foundational innovations that shaped modern watchmaking.
The Best of The Hour Lounge
Vacheron & Constantin Calendar Watches
Part I
Simple calendar shows the date, to which can be added day, month, moon phases or even the week number. With these timepieces, the date is manually adjusted for each month with less than 31 days.
Annual calendar automatically takes into account days of 30 or 31 days, but needs to be adjusted on the last day of February unless it is a leap year.
Perpetual calendar automatically calculates the months which have 28, 29, 30 or 31 days.
1790
Vacheron Constantin’s first calendar clock, engraved dial and indication of day and date.
1824
Yellow gold pocket watch with date indicated on periphery of the dial by pointer hand.
1827
Jump hour with the date at 12.
1884
Yellow gold double sided pocket watch. Time indication in front, perpetual calendar with moon phases on the reverse (shown).
1899
Minute repeater with day and date via apertures at 12.
1901
Day and date indication through single aperture at 12.
1901
Red gold case housing minute repeater and chronograph with moon phases and perpetual calendar on a four year cycle.
1901
Half-quarter repeater, chronograph and perpetual calendar on four year cycle.
1904
Quarter repeater with date and guilloche dial.
1905
Minute repeater with split seconds chronograph, moon phases and perpetual calendar on four year cycle.
1909
Chronograph with 15 minute counter, simple calendar with moon phases and a rare alarm function.
1913
Perpetual calendar on one year cycle, equation of time (hand with the sun on tip), time of sunrise and sunset calibrated for Paris.
1918
Time showing on the front and semi-open dial on the back with triple date and moon phases.
1925
Art Deco design with no hands. Jumping hours and wandering minutes indicated below the day and date.
1925
Day and date indication via apertures and moon phases.
1925
Minute repeater and four year perpetual calendar with moon phases.
1926
Instantaneous perpetual calendar - all calendar indications jump at the same time at midnight - on a four year cycle with equation of time and time of sunrise/sunset. This watch also has a 1st class Observatory Bulletin.
1927
Four year perpetual calendar with moon phases.
1927
Day and date apertures and moon phases. Case made of green gold; a mix of gold 75% and silver 25%.
1927
Day and date via apertures and moon phases.
1929
Triple date via apertures.
1929 The Fouad
Vacheron & Constantin’s second most complicated pocket watch, featuring a carillon minute repeater with 3 hammers, grande and sonnerie, split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar on a one year cycle and moon phases.
1929
Thought to be Vacheron & Constantin’s first calendar wrist watch, day and date via apertures and moon phases in a green gold case.
1929
Triple date, with the date indicated via a central hand, and moon phases.
1929
Triple date via apertures and moon phases with power reserve indicator. Case in platinum.
1929
Called Américane because, contrary to European practice, the month indication is before the date. Triple date with moon phases.
1929 The Boisrouvray
Vacheron Constantin’s 3rd most complicated watch, featuring a carillon minute repeater with 3 hammers, split-seconds chronograph, one year perpetual calendar, moon phases and alarm. Started in 1914 and completed in 1928, it was sold in 1948 to Count Guy de Boisrouvray, cousin of Monaco’s Prince Rainier III.
"This watch is not only impressive because of its 657 components and 11 hands but also due to the fact that it is one of only two highly complicated Vacheron Constantin timepieces to be outfitted with an alarm and one of only four pocket watches made by the brand to feature this complication.
The second interesting element of this 66 mm timepiece is the detail given to the escapement. It has a Guillaume balance, whose alloy exhibits unusual properties in terms of thermal expansion and changes in elasticity, with gold and platinum micro screws and an unusual, rare regulation system.
Vacheron Constantin was so proud of this watch that the brand chose it to illustrate the cover of the book The World of Vacheron Constantin, published in 1992." Alex Ghotbi
1930
Time via a sub-dial at 9, central seconds hand. Perpetual calendar, leap year indicator and moon phases.
1930
Rectangular triple date wrist watch with moon phases. Made in white or green gold.
1930
Triple date with moon phases.
1931
Day and date with sub-seconds at 9 and moon phases at 12.
1931
Date indicator at 3 and sub-seconds at 9 with moon phases at 12.
1932 “for Henry Graves, Jr.”
Grand complication with split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar with leap year indication and moon phases, tourbillon and power reserve indicator.
"This piece is the only multi complication pocket watch by Vacheron Constantin featuring a tourbillon. Regulated by Edmond Olivier, who was not only a master watchmaker but a genius in regulation of movements sent for Observatory trials. One of the particularities of this piece results from the fact that watch’s accuracy is not adversely affected when the chronograph is functioning. In 1934 it obtained 1st prize at the Geneva Observatory trials and in 1939 it was presented at the National Swiss Exhibition in Zurich." Alex Ghotbi
1933
Rectangular wrist watch with date at 12, also showing the date before and after.
1935 The Farouk
Vacheron & Constantin’s most complicated pocket watch, featuring minute repeater, grande and petite sonnerie, split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar with leap year indication, moon phases, alarm and power reserve for going-train and sonnerie.
"This 80 mm behemoth, whose manufacture lasted more than six years, is outfitted with 13 hands. The calibre boasts no less than 820 components. Manufactured between 1930 and 1935, this watch remained in King Farouk's collection until 1954 when it was auctioned in the Cairo sale of the Palace Collection. Even if this was a gift to the young king, like his father he also had the language for the calendar functions changed from English to French." Alex Ghotbi
References
Best of The Hour Lounge will be taking a break for the summer months of July and August. Tick Talk
What a fantastic post!! And so many beautiful pocket watches from my all time favorite brand.
the aperture indications are my favorite
when pocket watches make a comeback
pleased me so much & I appreciate the more legibility due to the different size.
...Vacheron ever decide to bring them back as wrist watches.
as VC is always looking to their archives for inspiration.
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