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Vacheron Constantin continues to excel at traditional watchmaking and time-honoured craftsmanship with its latest released novelties
Skeleton wristwatches have been popular since the quartz crisis in the 1970s, and remain so in 2023. The Swiss watch industry’s biggest players have been dropping cutaway dials and movements at an extraordinary rate, with models showcasing each brand’s intricate designs and technical prowess. For Vacheron Constantin, however, open-worked movements have long been a part of the manufacture’s state-of-the-art collections: watch aficionados have been strapping the brand’s exposed bridges and hand-guillochéd components onto their wrists for decades.
“The very first Vacheron Constantin timepiece with a partially open-worked dial dates from 1918,” says Christian Selmoni, the watchmaking maison’s heritage and style director. “It was a pocket watch with an astronomical calendar, which was totally innovative at the time in terms of design. It was not until almost a century later that the manufacture once again turned its attention to this dial concept with Reference 47247, which was unveiled in 2002 for the 247th anniversary of the maison.”
For 2023, Vacheron Constantin’s brand-new Traditionnelle Tourbillon Retrograde Date Openface goes further still. Unveiled at this year’s edition of Watches and Wonders, the timepiece is set with gold baton-style hour-markers that sit on a railroad track. Double-sided Dauphine hands glide across the hand-brushed, slate-grey surface, an effect achieved using an NAC treatment that applies ultra-thin galvanic layers for added depth and colour.
The in-house, self-winding Calibre 2162 R31 powers this timeless ticker, and combines a tourbillon with a retrograde date display. The architecture of this movement is perfectly visible on both sides of the watch; as is the tourbillon that’s stylised in the shape of a hollowed-out Maltese cross—a Vacheron Constantin signature. The inside of the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Retrograde Date Openface’s carriage is hand-bevelled, while the cone-shaped transversal bar is hand-polished to reflect light like a mirror.
“The idea here is to push the limits of technical complexity and horological beauty by making them visible, all in a classic rose-gold case,” says Selmoni; but this isn’t the only release that showcases Vacheron Constantin’s technical and mechanical excellence. Exceptional artistic flourishes are also found in the Overseas Moonphase Retrograde Date, which is the latest in a series of sophisticated sports watches. A six-sided bezel features a combination of polished and satin-brushed surfaces and a fluted crown. The translucent lacquered dial displays luminescent hour-markers and hands for better legibility.
“The timepieces in the Overseas collection channel the attributes of the ‘tool watches’ of the 1950s in terms of their shapes and technical features. They are robust, elegant, functional and versatile. In a sense, their evolution symbolises the changes in societal behaviour: horologically rewriting the new codes of modern and contemporary life,” says Selmoni. “It took three years of research and development to integrate the traditional functions and complications of the retrograde date and the precious moonphase display into the Overseas collection.”
Driven by the in-house, self- winding Calibre 2460 R31L/2, which operates at an impressive rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour, this complex, 275-component movement includes a 22-karat gold oscillating weight, which can be admired through the watch’s sapphire caseback. Moonphases, displayed through an aperture at six o’clock requires a one-day correction once every 122 years. If one prefers to give the wrist a splash of colour, the Overseas Moonphase Retrograde Date’s steel bracelet can be swapped for a supple calfskin or blue rubber strap.
There’s also something eye-catching about the new Patrimony Retrograde Day-Date, which slips gracefully under the cuff of a suit jacket. Elegant and minimal, the watch’s platinum case comes with a salmon-pink dial inspired by the 1920s and 1930s. “Vacheron Constantin wristwatches with retrograde date made a comeback in the early 2000s with Reference 47245, presented to mark the 245th anniversary of the manufacture, and which featured a retrograde date, but a day display via an auxiliary dial at six o’clock and a trailing hand,” says Selmoni. “The system of displaying the date by retrograde hands offers advantages in terms of legibility but is technically very complex to implement. It was not until 2006 that the first double retrograde day-date wristwatch was produced.”
Two retrograde indicators in navy blue sweep across the sunburst pattern underneath a faceted Maltese cross handcrafted in 18-karat pink gold. The hours and minutes are displayed with 18-karat white-gold hands, which glide across 48 white-gold pearl second indicators. This is secured onto the wrist with a dark blue alligator strap and platinum pin buckle—talk about pure, understated luxury.