Vacheron Constantin

Sven
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Contemporain - a brief impression of two significant watches

Gentlemen,

Today I passed an AD store in Copenhagen just before closing time. Nevertheless the kind elderly AD willingly showed me two Patrimony Contemporaines, namely the VCC automatic with new in-house calibre and the new retro-date/week-days VCC.

For quite a while I had been looking forward to a reality check on the Contemporain automatic, so I eagerly anticipated all "signals" of the watch. First of all it's a very vey beautiful watch. The finish is exquisite, the in-house-movement looks fantastic from the back, and the dial layout is a success. The date window (a crucial aesthetic point) looked excellent and was well integrated with the dial. One of the most successful date windows I've seen. The basic dial layout doesn't need recommandation - it's timeless and yet a nod to old pre-WW2 lounges and clubs with Chesterfield furniture. Breathtakingly charming, in other words. Yet - and I am sorry there is a "yet" - the matt opaline dial of the manual wound had been changed with a more reflective, blingy silver dial making everything on the watch shine and blinge. Not to my liking, I'm afraid, but evidently this is very subjective. It surely gives the watch a presence, a character, but IMO the opaline is much more consistant with the design idea. The opaline enhances the effect of the beautiful polished numerals, the silver dial competes with them. Another minus - but that's just for me - was the price tag. Substantially over the hand-wound - about 45% I guess, and that's a lot. However, I'd stretch my budget far if EVERYTHING was perfect, but since it's not (for me) I had to conclude that the Contemporaine auto wasn't for me. What a pity.

While I wept away my inner tears I briefly had a look on the other, twice as expensive Contemporaine with the retrograde date and the unique week-day-display. In advance I had no high expectations about that watch, thinking the retro-scale and especially its hand were too dominant and destructive to the basic Contemporaine-design. I liked the day-display from the pictures. Well, in short I was taken aback by the beauty of this watch, and all my prejudices came to an end. It's a large watch to be sure, but it's also an intriguing watch with what I saw as an opaline dial, a well-proportioned bezel and a beautiful balance between the displays. A unique watch, but unfortunately, finansially out of my reach. Highly recommendable, however, to those of you who have the means and the will.

On a final note, the kind, elderly AD was very enthusiastic when he realized he was meeting a VC fan with some knowledge and appreciation of the brand. While the young salesmen were closing the store in the back-offices, he almost whispered to me that he was glad to meet a connoisseur of the brand, he had worshipped  his whole life. "You know, Napoleon bought a VC for his fiancee. And I had a vintage I sold to a man many years ago - re-bought it recently after ten years, and it runs smoothly. Nothing beats the charm of a VC!"

Well, I could do nothing but smile and nod and applaud his statement. Only when confronting the Danish winter outside the store, it became clear to me that the Patek 5196 still held the leading position in my long search. Alas!

Thanks for reading - sorry it became long.

Sven