Vacheron Constantin

What would you like to see from VC at SIHH this year?

 

Spring is in the air and that means that the watch shows are just around the corner. I enjoy speculating about what we might see, or at least what I would like to see. I’ll frame this in terms of three price points in the market:

For an affordable watch, I’d like to see VC bring back a manual winding Chronometer Royal. While I think the new automatic CR is a beautiful watch:

I would like to have a manual winding option and a metal, rather than enamel, dial. I’m sure the 1400 caliber could be tuned to chronometer specs, but what would make me excited would be if VC introduced a larger manual winding movement, perhaps at a slower beat rate, with this historically important line of watches. A 20 mm movement in an almost 40 mm case looks ridiculous. And if they are going to make it a chronometer, it would be exciting if they upgraded the balance to be free-sprung.

In the expensive watch category, I want to see VC make a perpetual calendar watch on their 2450 base caliber. I would like it in either the Malte or Patrimony lines, and with the basic layout of the classic Patek perpetual calendars such as the 3448 or 3450. Or, if you prefer, like the in the Malte Perpetual chronograph, but without the chronograph function.

Last year, in the dream watch category, VC gave us the Traditionnelle-Caliber 2755, a minute repeating, perpeutal calendar, tourbillon grand complication wristwatch, based on the movement of the 250th anniversary megawatch, the Tour de I’lle.


If VC goes back to the 250th anniversary well, I’d most like to see a 10-day tourbillon based on the St Gervais, perhaps in a case slightly smaller than the St Gervais’s 44 mm.


I would want the perpetual calendar function to be not present, thus preserving the special nature of the St Gervais, but I would want some complication to fill the space north of the hole for the tourbillon. Power reserve makes most sense to me.

More realistically, we can expect to see a couple of new Hommage to the Great Explorer watches, as well as the next set of Les Masques. And, of course, we can expect to be surprised and entralled by what VC will actually introduce with this years novelties.

What would you like to see introducted at SIHH this year?


Bill