Vacheron Constantin

Three months ago, in my thread dedicated to Vacheron Constantin's American 1921, I included the 2021 piece unique, exact handmade recreation of the original ref. 11677 with the dial tilted to the left.

Otherwise the “twist” wouldn’t make sense?

from Escapement magazine, commenting the differences between this reference and the previous from 1919 (ref. 11032) "in 1921, the American was available with a configuration optimised for left-handed individuals (Reference 11677). Its dial was endowed with Breguet numerals, Breguet hands and a chemin de fer, imbuing the watch with a heightened sense of elegance. In both instances, the small seconds display was positioned adjacent 6 o’clock." Indeed, in the modern versions, the small seconds display has been placed at 3 o'clock (so it can be considered a kind of mix of both older references). Ref. 11032 from 1919 (left) & ref. 11677 from 1921 (right)

Thanks a bunch for the pictures, cheers, Filip

Best, Emmanuel

At first I thought the vintage was a destro but the dial layout is perfectly positioned to be able to read time on the left wrist while driving. It makes the modern layout look awkward!

According to this article from Escapement magazine, commenting the differences between the ref. 11677 and the previous one from 1919 (ref. 11032) "in 1921, the American was available with a configuration optimised for left-handed individuals (Reference 11677). Its dial was endowed with Breguet numerals, Breguet hands and a chemin de fer, imbuing the watch with a heightened sense of elegance. In both instances, the small seconds display was positioned adjacent 6 o’clock." Indeed, in the modern versions, the small seconds display has been placed at 3 o'clock (so it can be considered a kind of mix of both older references).Ref. 11032 from 1919 (left) & ref. 11677 from 1921 (right) 

The one-to-one recreation looks a beauty and a nice size -- those contemporary cushion shapes wear large.

I tried on the 36.5mm twice and the size was ok for me, but somehow I didn’t find it fitted to my taste even if I like it ‘on paper’. It didn’t feel like a watch I would want to wear often.

and therefore less refined in many modern models. And the 5565 is certainly a good case for this argument. One (very limited and incomplete) element of explanation could be that newer models/designs are made with photography in mind and that refinement is simply less photogenic. Just a guess: I really don’t know to what extent this might be true.

And even if this is true of many models, isn’t there a lot of refinement and understatement in some modern designs like the 5236 or 5235 or Laurent Ferrier’s Classic micro rotor ?

I realize what I wrote could be taken as an absolute
and I didn't mean it that way. Yes, there are wonderfully
refined pieces today. When I looked at the link to the review by Sjx
(which I read after I left my comment) under the heading
initial thoughts, he remarks about the same thing. When
you look at the printing of Pateks from the 30's through
50's it's much nicer, imo than what we have today. Since
I got my feet wet in the 80's there were a number
new old stock pieces around. I guess my view
is colored by how I began in this wonderful
hobby/passion of ours. Since we're looking at
a cushion watch here, the one that I kick myself
about was a Patek cushion enamel dial with a
sweep second hand. I believe it was at a Christie's
auction. I had much less resources then and was
was outbid by quite a bit. But what a joy to have
it on my wrist even for a few moments at the pre sale
viewing!

to be able to try on this cushion Patek with enamel dial! And even if you were outbid, the memory remains! Have a nice weekend.

I'd love the opportunity to handle this watch in the metal, just as I imagine it would feel quite a bit different from the modern 1921. Hopefully, this is not the last project of this sort undertaken. I'd genuinely like to see a Vacheron handmade "reborn" program opened to the public, even if it's only for a lucky few.