Vacheron Constantin

Thoughts on Vacheron Constantin after SIHH

 

While Vacheron Constantin did not introduce a large quantity of novelties this year, the quality of those few watches is impressive, both on their own terms and in the context of the brand’s entire product catalog. One of my criticisms of the brand was the relative dearth of appealing mid-complications. The undeniable strength of the brand has recently been in basic dress and sport watches and in high-complication masterpieces. The middle range was relatively empty. I now consider that gap filled.

Vacheron Constantin got off to a hot start before SIHH with the announcement last November of the Quai de l’Ile Annual Calendar. The 2460 QRA movement is Vacheron Constantin’s first featuring the annual calendar complication, which automatically corrects for months of less than 31 days with the exception of February, which needs to be manually adjusted forward to March 1. The dial indicates hours, minutes, seconds, month, retrograde date, and moon phase.

The case of the Quai de l’Ile Annual Calendar is a generous 43 mm in diameter. The use of solid dials on this and the other Quai de l’Ile watches will enhance the legibility of the time and calendar reading compared with the first generation models that featured sapphire crystal dials.

Pending the extension of the annual calendar to the other collections such as Patrimony and Malte, Vacheron Constantin would appear to have a rival to Patek Philippe’s signature annual calendar complication.

The addition of a basic perpetual calendar complication is a welcome addition to the Vacheron Constantin’s catalog. Until now Vacheron Constantin had only been producing perpetual calendars either as a skeleton watch or as in combination with other complications. This Patrimony Contemporaine model is comfortably large at 41 mm in diameter.


I also welcome the return of the free sprung Gyromax balance on the 1120 caliber. This brings the movement back to how it was originally conceived.


Vacheron Constantin also added a world time complication to its catalog with the Patrimony Traditionnelle World Time watch. While many collectors automatically link the “Cottier” layout with Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin had also produced a number of Cottier world time watches in the mid-20th Century.


The Patrimony Traditionnelle World Time is unique among world time watches in that in addition to telling time in the 24 standard time zones, it also accounts for those zones, indicated in red print on the dial, where time is offset at either a quarter or half hour from the standard zones. The projected map on the dial has shading that distinguishes day from night. The crown controls both the time setting and zone setting, making the watch easy to use.


Vacheron Constantin now has a full suite of attractive, well designed and executed mid-complication watches in its catalog, capable of competing against the mid-complication watches from Patek Philippe, Breguet, and others. Filling out the catalog from top to bottom with in-house manufacture movements and consolidating the collection along well defined lines (Malte/Patrimony/Quai de l’Ile/etc) has been a long term process, the fruits of which we can enjoy now and for a long time into the future.

Bill