Introducing The Best of The Hour Lounge: Vacheron & Constantin Repeater Watches
I have a confession to make to you, my fellow Vachonistas; I am a hoarder! Thankfully not the kind who lives in a house jammed to the ceiling with mouldy newspapers and stinking of cat pee; I am an information hoarder. When the The Hour Lounge, the official Vacheron Constantin discussion forum, was suddenly taken offline some four years ago I had, thanks to this small idiosyncrasy, copied many of the interesting and informative posts.
Today I am pleased to launch the first in a series of repackaged articles from those ten lost years as The Best of The Hour Lounge. I say “repackaged” because most of the official articles posted by Vacheron Constantin were preparatory to model launches or exhibitions that are no longer current. The prose, therefore, is not as relevant today and has been omitted or greatly truncated. Be assured the scholarly bits are still there; all the facts, figures and photos of interest to collectors. Where new or additional details are known, they have also been added.
From 2007 to 2017, Vacheron Constantin hosted The Hour Lounge, an online forum where a treasure trove of historic photographs and technical details were shared with participants. Although the forum is gone, some materials were saved. I have endeavoured to curate this information, updated where possible and revised where necessary, for the benefit of connoisseurs and collectors alike. Photo credit Vacheron Constantin unless otherwise noted. Tick Talk
The Best of The Hour Lounge
Vacheron & Constantin Repeater Watches Part I
1812
Quarter repeater, 55mm red gold case, enamel dial, 22’’’ movement with 4 jewels, 8.65mm thick. Vacheron & Constantin’s first repeating watch.
1812
Ladies quarter repeater, yellow gold case with inlaid pearls, movement 6.1mm thick.
1816
Quarter repeater, pink gold case, movement 12.2mm thick. Also plays a musical tune on demand and on the hour.
1818
Quarter repeater, rose gold case, movement is 11.4mm thick.
1820
Quarter repeater travel clock, alarm, grand and petite sonnerie. Gilt metal case, dial in white enamel.
1826
Quarter repeater, hunting case in rose gold, white enamel dial, movement 6mm thick.
1827
Quarter repeater with jump hour and guilloche silver dial.
1827
Alarm watch with gong striking mechanism, silver case. Back engraved with Ethel Clifford poem circa 1903;
Though we attain not, yet we shall have shared together for a space the bread and wine; have stood together on the peak of dreams and seen afar the mystic city shine.
1827
Quarter repeater with grande and petite sonnerie.
1830
Quarter repeater, rose gold case, guilloche silver dial, movement 4.1mm thick.
1838
Quarter repeater pendant watch, silver dial, case with flower motif guillochage, movement 4.1mm thick.
1897
Minute repeater, unique piece ordered with gilt brass case and repeating slide on right side of watch.
1899
Minute repeater, day and date indicated via apertures in the enamel dial.
1900
Minute repeater chronograph, minute counter, pulsometer, 51.5mm half-hunter case, calibre RA 18/19’’’, 31 jewels. Watch owned by Prince Louis Napoleon, last of the dynasty.
1901
Minute repeater chronograph, perpetual calendar and moon phases, calibre RA 19’’’, 33 jewels, 59.5mm red gold case.
1901
Five-minute repeater chronograph in hunting case, perpetual calendar, movement 11.7mm thick.
1904
Quarter repeater with date and guilloche dial, movement is 7mm thick.
1905
Quarter repeater in rose gold case, white enamel dial, movement is 4.52mm thick.
1905
Minute repeater, perpetual calendar, split seconds chronograph, calibre RA 18’’’ II with 32 jewels, 50mm gold case. A similar watch was produced in 1901 with a simple chronograph.
1905
Minute repeater with guilloche dial, movement is 5.05mm thick.
1906
Minute repeater, hunting case, split seconds chronograph with minute counter. Movement is 9.25mm thick.
1907
Quarter repeater chronograph, pink gold case, 9mm movement thickness.
1909
Minute repeater chronograph with alarm, 15-minute counter, calendar with day/ date/moon phases. Calibre RA 22’’’, 32 jewels, Observatory bulletins from Geneva and Teddington. One of four pocket watches ever made by Vacheron & Constantin with alarm function, this watch belonged to Bhupindra Singh, the Maharajah of Patiala.
1910
Quarter repeater chronograph, hunting case, perpetual calendar with moon phase. Movement is 8.36mm thick.
1913
Minute repeater chronograph with pulsometer scale, calibre RA 19’’’ 20/12, 35 jewels, 55mm case is 5.64 mm thick.
1918
Minute repeater chronograph with 7 1/2 minute grande and petite sonnerie, 20k chiseled gold case. Commissioned by James Ward Packard.
1923
Minute repeater, platinum case. 4.2mm movement thickness.
1925
Minute repeater with perpetual calendar and moonphase, movement is 7.75mm thick.
1928 The Boisrouvray
Minute repeater, carillon with 3 hammers, split seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar with day/date/month/leap year indication, moon phases and alarm.
1929 The King Fouad
Minute repeater, carillon with 3 hammers, grande and petite sonnerie, split seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar with day/date/month/leap year indication and moon phases. Calibre RA 21’’’ with 46 jewels.
In 1927 Vacheron & Constantin were working on the piece, destined to be their most complicated watch up to then, when a delegation from the Swiss colony in Egypt purchased it as a gift for King Fouad, a well-known watch collector. In 1929, the completed watch was presented to the King.
1930
Minute repeater, split seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar and moon phases. Movement is 8.46mm thick.
1934 The King Farouk
Minute repeater, grande and petite sonnerie, split seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar with day/date/month/leap year indication, moon phases, alarm, and power reserve indication for going train and sonnerie.
Manufactured from 1930 to 1935, 80mm gold case contains 820 components and features 13 hands. Purchased as a gift to King Farouk of Egypt.
References
- Voice of the Angel: History of Vacheron Constantin Minute Repeaters by Alex Ghotbi, Vacheron Constantin Community & Social Media Manager, The Hour Lounge internet forum, 31 October 2010.
- Massive Attack: Vacheron Constantin’s Most Complicated timepieces by Alex Ghotbi, Vacheron Constantin Community & Social Media Manager, The Hour Lounge internet forum, 16 July 2013.
- Treasures of Vacheron Constantin, Éditions Hazan, 2011.
What an IMPRESSIVE and illustrative post
YES!!!
This is amazing! Glad to see this information. I hope VC archived the website when they took it down.
I recall the panic
What a pleasure to see these good old and wonderful pocket watches. Do you have more informations about the movements of these marvels? Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post.
Any one in particular Nico?
Maharajah of Patiala
King Fouad
It was in 1927 that Francis Peter, the president of the Cairo Joint Tribunal and a Swiss citizen visited Vacheron Constantin’s ateliers on the Quai de l’Ile in Geneva. He had been appointed by the Swiss community of Egypt to find a gift to be presented to King Fouad 1st of Egypt ,-a known collector of watches - a passion he shared with his wife and would pass on to his son King Farouk.
Vacheron Constantin had already started working on an exceptional piece with an array of complications and 8 hands, which once completed would be the most complicated watch ever created by the brand. Mr. Peter chose this movement which was to be cased in a yellow gold case and have its back decorated with the royal coat of arms and bordered with diamonds.
In October 1929 the watch was presented to Francis Peter who requested that the days and month indicators be changed from English to French as this was the language the French speaking and Francophile king would undoubtedly prefer. A month later in November 1929 the watch was presented to King Fouad in a sandalwood box decorated with the royal crown and the king’s monogram in Arabic. Inside the box was the date: 1929 inlaid in gold and flanked by the Swiss escutchon and the royal coat of arms painted on enamel. The inside of the cuvette had the following words engraved on it: A Sa Majesté Fouad 1er Hommage de la Colonie Suisse d’Egypte which translates as To His Majesty Fouad 1st Tribute from the Swiss Colony of Egypt (colony as in community).
It sold to a private collector for an astronomical CHF 3,306,250 in April 2005 at the Vacheron Constantin Quarter Millennium Antiquorum auction.
King Farouk
During a trip to Geneva in 1937 King Farouk of Egypt insisted on visiting the Vacheron Constantin manufactory, Charles Constantin acting as his guide on the tour confessed his surprise at the breadth of the young (17 at the time) prince's knowledge of watchmaking. "But Monsieur Constantin" he replied "I dismantled so many watches when I was a child...unfortunately for them...!" Thank goodness that he did not dismantle the outstanding watch presented to him by the Genevan authorities during an official visit in 1935 (that makes him 15 at the time!)
This 80mm behemoth, which took over 6 years to manufacture, features 13 hands and the calibre has no less than 820 components. It was manufactured between 1930 and 1935 and purchased by Boulent Raoul to be presented to King Farouk of Egypt.
Even though it was presented to him as a gift, he ordered that the month indication should be changed to French from the original English, since it was so on his father’s watch!
This watch remained in King Farouk's collection until 1954 when it was sold in the Cairo sale of the Palace Collection, it reappeared at auction in 1994 at the Antiquorum VC thematic auction (selling for an astounding CHF 1,155,000) and has ever since remained in a private collection.
The Farouk was until the launch of the Tour de l’Ile in 2005 the most complicated watch created by Vacheron Constantin and one of the all-time most complicated pocket watches ever made.
Count Guy de Boisrouvray
Vacheron Constantin image
Ah, Dean , this is wonderful
