Vacheron Constantin

My Patrimony Contemporaine

 

Until recently I have been an admirer of the Patrimony Contemporaine from afar. It exhibits all the characteristics that I find appealing in a Vacheron Constantin watch. It is elegant and beautiful and the attention to detail in the construction of the case, dial, and movement all showcase what makes a Vacheron Constantin watch so special

Every version of the hand wound Patrimony Contemporaine, reference 81180, is appealing. It is available in yellow, rose, and white gold as well is an platinum. For each of the gold watches the dial is made from the same base metal as the case and then silvered, giving a slightly different hue of silver on each watch. Vacheron Constantin also creates an exclusive black dial version in a rose gold case for sale at its boutiques. There are also three dial options for the platinum cased Patrimony Contemporaine. One option is the same dial as the white gold watch. Another, introduced in 2010, has a ruthenium finish that is unique to Vacheron Constantin’s platinum cased watches. Finally there is the Excellence Platine Patrimony Contemporaine, which is a limited edition watch created in 2006 in the inaugural class of the EP collection. This watch features a platinum dial which has been given a sandblasted finish. It was limited to 150 individually numbered time pieces.

This latter watch is the one I jumped on as a target of opportunity, and a surprising one at that, as I have always tended to wear either yellow or rose gold watches.

What convinced me to go with the EP was a pair of experiences with seeing a different EP watch in person. The first was at a watch diner sponsored by an authorized retailer for which Vacheron Constantin and sent in a number of high-end watches, including an Excellence Platine Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograding Day and Date watch. I was impressed with the weight of the watch, and the dial was much nicer than I had been led to believe from the photos I had seen. Two years after that, which brought us to early this year, I saw the same watch on a friend’s wrist, this time in good, natural light, and the magical effect of the platinum dial seduced me.


But it is not just the exterior beauty of the Patrimony Contemporaine that seduced me, it was the movement as well. Vacheron Constantin developed the caliber 1400 in the late 1990’s after its purchase of the technical shop HDG to fulfill the demand of watch collectors that high-end watch houses design and manufacture exclusive and beautifully finished movements for use in their watches. The Malte Grande Classique the first simple watch to use this in-house caliber 1400, and it was one of the first watches I purchased from Vacheron Constantin. I was thrilled with it.


While the 20 mm diameter of the movement is small for a 40 mm watch, the space does give room for the dial to curve down around the outer rim, a touch that was often seen on vintage watches, but rarely done in contemporary watchmaking.


The caliber 1400 is beautifully designed finished, and has earned the Geneva Hallmark. I especially appreciate the interior angles of the barrel bridge.






While I would be happy with any version of the Patrimony Contemporaine, I think I have found the perfect one for me with the Excellence Platine version.

Bill