Vacheron Constantin

35 mm case & Manual Wind, Cal. 1014







credit: Christie’s








credit: invaluable





credit: Antiquorum





credit: Green auctioneers




credit: Antiquorum




credit: Wannenes & Roni Madhvani







2/ DIAL WITH 2-4-8-10-12 NUMERALS


credit: Antiquorum






credit: cadmoreauctions



3/ DIAL WITH ALL NUMERALS EXCEPT 6


credit: Antiquorum


The "Don Pancho" (Minute repeater)










credit: Hodinkee & Phillips






credit: Antiquorum











credit: aaron_coop_








credit: Antiquorum






credit: @theoandharris









credit: Antiquorum 

I hadn't seen these before but really like the idea of the crown at 12 and much prefer the neo vintage versions with the seconds dial at 3.

I love winding my manual winding watches and I think the crown at 12 o'clock probably makes the experience uncomfortable.
Best, Emmanuel

but I have doubts about the winding experience. I love winding my manual winding watches and I think the crown at 12 o'clock probably makes the experience uncomfortable, unfortunately.
Best, Emmanuel

These look a little better since the crown looks a little bigger.  But still look less than ideal.  Also, the gap between strap and case is HUGE.  They probably did this so the strap wouldn't rub on the crown if it were a thicker strap.

Original design, but I love winding my manual winding watches and I think the crown at 12 o'clock probably makes the experience uncomfortable.
Best, Emmanuel

And still regret not having done so. An intriguing watch for sure 👌🏻👍🏻

but I have mixed feelings, because I really love winding my manual winding watches and I think the crown at 12 o'clock probably makes the experience uncomfortable.
So I don't think I would fully enjoy such a watch.
Best, Emmanuel

That I don’t fully remember the winding experience 🤷🏻‍♂️

There are more than a few gems from that era. But of these, it's gotta be the tonneau repeater.

That said, I love winding my manual winding watches and I think the crown at 12 o'clock probably makes the experience uncomfortable, even with the Pancho, unfortunately.

that stunning 1936 watch was first revealed to the Hour Lounge forum by a descendant who found it neglected in a drawer and was looking for information.  These are a couple of the photos shared with us.

I have, of course, read extensively the story and history of this watch sold in 2019. Quite fascinating. VC has done a nice restored replacement dial and thankfully they’ve left the original one untouched. What’s sad though is that, given the amount paid to acquire it, I imagine this watch not worn but sleeping in a safe…
Best, Emmanuel

but wasn't it a good idea to keep the original dial in its original state and just make another dial?

being so close to the strap.  Personally, I prefer crowns to be

I love winding my manual winding watches and I think the crown at 12 o'clock probably makes the experience uncomfortable.
Best, Emmanuel

For the 1930’s pieces, V&C used Lepine-type pendant watch movements re-purposed for the new wristlet fad.  Winder at 12 and seconds at 6 are the consequence.  The original American 1921 can also credit its distinctive look to Lepine movements.

I wasn’t aware of this “reason behind”.

1) the 1935 watch came in two slightly different sizes, one being 29mm and the other slightly bigger at 29.5mm. This is due to a difference in the lugs. On some of the cases, the lugs are tapered off on the sides (smaller size), while on some others the lugs are "intergrated" into the sides, making the case ever so slightly wider. Also, there are two styles of crowns, one sticks out above the case, while the other has the crown integrated into the case. Also, aside from the minute and hour hands, the second hand also cam in two distinct styles. Where the second hand subdial is very simple (very few hash marks, no railroad track etc), the second hand is not counterweighted and goes to the edge of the subdial; where the subdial has a more complex design, the second hand is counterweighted and the tip goes to whereever the design dictates (not necessarily the edge of the subdial).
2) the winding experience is OK but the real challenge is setting the time. In my experience, the crown will always bump into the strap when pulled out, and will often "drop down" by itself as it isn't able to fully engage. The only way to get around this is to have a custom strap made with a VERY thin edge. However, there are some limitations to this too. The watch uses the older female-style springbars where the lugs themselves have two pins sticking out; this naturally dictates how slim the springbar can be, since the ends of the springbar is a tube, and it has to be big enough to sit over these pins), and this will also dictate how slim the springbars themselves, and consquently the gap in the strap, can be. In short, even though the crown was made purposefully super slim, I've never found an occasion where the crown doesn't bump into it.
3) I believe this model was made in steel in greater numbers than comparable model watches at the time. Given the need for VC to survive during the great depression, this watch was born out of a need to make a “cheap-enough” watch for the mass market. My watch has a movement serial in the 360,000 range, meaning it was manufactured much earlier, probably between 1915 - 1920, but cased in a case that fits right in the middle of the 1935. It's clear VC needed to get rid of a lot of unused pocket watch movements from decads earlier.
4) The neo-vintage model is not a faithful re-edition of this watch (and if I'm honest, kind of pointless). If anything, they've made a good dress watch worse. By dropping in a modern movement and rotating the dial 45 degrees, all they have done is create a watch that introduces the very problems I described above. At least in 1935, they were solving a real world problem (how to get rid of old unused pocket watch movements).
5) The finish of this watch does not feel as "premium" as other VC watches of the same era, or at least my SS version doesn't. Even though the case was manufactured by the renowned Francois Borgel, I think the composition of the older staybrite steel just feels very bad compared to any modern stainless steel.

Charles Constantin was very explicit in the Annales that these top-winders were an economic, not aesthetic, initiative. It is ironic that what was initially a design compromise became a desirable feature with the Re-edition. Still, dipping into their historic catalog for designs that are already known and admired is also an economic decision ;-)