Vacheron Constantin

Vacheron Constantin just released three Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin watches: two for men (one in white gold, one in rose gold) and one for women.

Though I take issue with the month subdial which can be difficult to read, the very affordable price makes up for it 😀

that is really piquing my interest.
Best, Emmanuel

The month subdial is indeed not the easiest to read, but it invites to take a broader view on time: to consider not only the current year, but a 4-year cycle. And I find this broader way of considering time very appealing personally (just my feeling of course).
Best, Emmanuel

Like Meistersinger and their one handed watch that subconsciously makes you see the “big picture” or 24 hour dials that divide time into day and night.

If this model was intended to inspire such feelings then in my opinion it is either a missed opportunity that the rest of the watch is so conventional and straight forward.

At a glance, you will only be able to distinguish the time, day of the week, and where we are in the bissextile cycle. The date and month will take some squinting.

Personally I would have preferred a solution such as this which makes reading of the month much easier while still indicating the leap year cycle:

is definitely a completely different and interesting take on this complication. 

Maybe affordable for the target audience .
Though by no means inexpensive.

Jus turned it off and wow, yes, $100K is nuts

A car, you have to ask yourself why.

I just wonder why nobody really complains concerning the price of the comparable Overseas (same complication and movement).
And to put things into perspective: the rose gold Cornes de Vache retailed for 58k in 2022; now end of 2025 it retails for 71,5K...

The date window keeps me away here. They probably believe it is a critical design of theirs. For me a flaw

I just wonder why nobody complains when it is featured on an Overseas... 

I'm personally not interested in the Overseas. But I like the 43031 and these new releases.
But I understand that this 48-month display isn't to everyone's taste.

The amusing thing here is that the diamond lugs and diamond bezel only adds $2000 USD to the standard version's price.  I disagree about the "beautiful layout of the perpetual calendar" as I have always disliked the the month/leap year indication on this watch.  Having 48 hashmarks on a tiny sub-dial was never a good idea in my eyes.  Then again, this probably isn't a major problem for most people since most people know what month they're in.  But it shows that other brands do a better job - other brands have a 1/2/3/L sub-dial and a month sub-dial (usually all on the same sub-dial with two hand indications) with only 12 hash-markings - thus promoting better legibility.  

I’ve always liked this layout. Not the best in terms of legibility for the month, very true, but inviting to consider the long term (a 4-year cycle) rather than just the current year. And I like this broader view of time very much.

Also, compared to the ref. 43031, the subdial at 12 has been simplified and the word “Automatic” just below has been removed.

So, to each his own, of course, but these new references look very nice to me.

Best, Emmanuel

Best, Emmanuel

I can forgive the month indicator here because the watch feels much more minimalistic than the latest release we are discussing. It feels more intentional here, a stylistic choice vs a limitation imposed by the movement on the current version.

On the contrary, I like the purified design of the 48 months subdial on the new models (less text and no "automatic" below).

The "automatic" text on the dial really is not necessary.