Let's come back to a watch I furtively saw at Watches and Wonders, last year, as this year I saw nothing which piqued my interest, from Vacheron Constantin: The Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Chronograph in platinum.
A few days before seeing it in real life, I had a look at some official pictures, and I was intrigued. I first have to say that I always liked the Vacheron offer in terms of PC Chronographs, especially the 47112 and the 47212, both with the " Malte " case, and these typical lugs... Which may explain my feelings on this new one.
1/ THE CASE:
The case of the Traditionnelle is the bigger of these three, with a 43 mm diameter, versus 39 mm for the 47112 and 42 mm for the 47212. The lugs are more " Traditional ", on the more recent one, straight, slim, and linear.Here, I prefer the Malte ones.
The Patrimony:
The height is 12, 94 mm, which is " thinner " than the 47112 and the 47212 with 14 mm. So the proportions are more harmonious on the Traditionnelle, that's indisputable, while the 47112 is a " burger " in comparison, even if it is a lovely one. Its hunter case back doesn't help here.
The 47112:
The 47212:
The only one to have round pushers is the 47212, the two others having rectangular pushers which are well proportioned, while the round pushers of the 47212 seem to be a bit too small.
The crown? The 47212 has the best one in terms of proportions, while the 47112 looks a tad too big and the Traditionnelle is a tad too small.
2/ THE DIAL:
Here, the rule is as simple as it is obvious: The dial has to be in harmony with the case, and most of all, with the movement size. And this is the major flaw of the Traditionnelle, as we'll elaborate right now.
When you compare the dials of the 47112, 47212 and of this Traditionnelle, the most harmonious clearly is the dial of the 47112. Look at the minute chronograph and small seconds subdials. On the Traditionnelle, they are very centered ( too much, in my taste ) and very small, compared to the 47212 and the difference is even more noticeable with the 47112. This perception is enhanced by the fact that, on the Traditionnelle, the applied indices at 3 and 9 o'clock are smaller than the others, at the exception of those at 5 and 7 o' clock, but these last two are not problematic, from a design point of view, at least according to my own taste.
For the rest, it is very subjective. The 47112 has superb triangular shaped applied indices, But I am not too fond of the applied Roman XII.
Here is a piece unique, with a sumptuous black dial:
The 47212 has something which drives me mad, its awesome platinum dial. But I dislike the PT 950 mentioned between 4 and 5 o' clock. One detail I love a lot, the shape of its hands.
The Traditionnelle takes the benefit of its gorgeous salmon dial, which, chromatically speaking offers a superb combination with the platinum case. But I am less a fan of its more conventional Dauphine hands. And the too centered small seconds and minute chronograph subdials are a no go for me.
These three have two common points: One I love a lot, the sublimissime platinum moon phase, and the other one I totally dislike, the leap year window, just above the " 30 " of the minute chronograph subdial... They should have found a better way to display the leap year!
3/ THE MOVEMENT:
Here I don't see big differences between the Cal 1141QP of the 47112 and 47212 and the Cal 1142QP of the Traditionnelle. The size is the same ( 27 mm ) and the height, too ( 7, 37 mm ). We find the Lemania base with a lot of pleasure, again, even if one thing is sure, this is the culprit of the too centered subdials mentioned above. The Patek contender, the 5970, with the same movement, does better here.
The Cal 1141QP:
The Cal 1142QP:
It seems that the power reserve is a tad longer, with the Cal 1142QP: 48 hours versus a tad more than 40 hours for the Cal 1141QP... To be checked, though.
It has the good taste to be manual winding, but I would have preferred a longer power reserve...
4/ CONCLUSION:
You got my idea. When I saw the new " Traditionnelle '' the two other former perpetual calendar chronographs immediately came to my mind. It is impossible not to compare all of them, at least for me.
Per se, the Traditionnelle is a very nice watch, a Classic associating two noble complications, with a sublime salmon dial. But there are the two former ones.
So, my favorite would be the 47212 over the 47112 by a very slight margin, due to the slimmer and more elegant / romantic Malte lugs, and because of its platinum grained dial. But I am totally crazy about the hunter case back of the 47112, and its smaller case offers more consistency to the 2 small seconds and minute chronograph subdials.
Looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts,
Best.
Nicolas