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The vintage minute repeater – who made them? Patek Philippe? Sure, but not many.  Vacheron Constantin? Yup, but even less.  In fact, Vacheron only made 36 watches in the early to mid 20th century that were minute repeaters, and all of them (as far as we know) bore the reference 4261.  And, out of those 36 minute repeaters, only ten used a 13mm diameter movement, inside an oversized case.  All 36 minute repeaters were in fact ultra-slim, with a movement of just 3.1mm thick and were typically made from yellow or pink gold, sometimes platinum.

And then we have the watch we saw yesterday at Christie’s, which will be coming up in their May Geneva sale.  This is indeed a vintage Vacheron repeater, and indeed it uses a wide (13mm ligne diameter) but ultra-slim (3.1mm) movement in an oversized case (36mm, but it feels more like 38mm), but it is not a reference 4261 like all the others. 

From:HODINKEE

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We’ve discussed the glory of vintage Vacheron Constantin before.  You’re talking true top level work at prices often well below where one might expect to see them (see here, here, and here for examples of what we mean). 

In Antiquorum New York’s coming auction, there an exceptionally cool vintage Vacheron that you rarely see offered publicly.  The watch is a 1950s triple date moonphase VC, that you often find in gold.  But this one isn’t gold, it’s steel.

From:HODINKEE

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Say hello to my bulging friend – the Malte. Yea, I said it. Vacheron Constantin redoes its classic Malte watch case for 2012 as a “bulging barrel” design that is not universally liked, but is distinctive. I for one am actually a fan of the new more exaggerated tonneau style case and thin profile of this casually elegant range of watches. For men there are three versions this year.

For a long time the Matle has been part of the Vacheron Constantin line up. It has housed all sorts of movements – many with very high complications. The new range is much more simple and wonderfully chic in my opinion. The conservative brand offers only one style of each this year – with more to follow for sure in the coming years.

My favorite version is a limited edition of 100 pieces model in 950 platinum called the Vacheron Constantin Malte 100th Anniversary Edition. It is the 100th anniversary of the Malte this year by the way… The watch is a simple two-handed with cool sandblasted silver dial and black Roman numerals. It contains the Vacheron Constantin in-house made Calibre 4400 manually would movement.

The main Malte case for 2012 is quite thin and curved a bit. On the wrist is it extremely comfortable and I love how it looks. Size is decent at 36.70mm wide and 47.61mm tall. Aside from the tourbillon, the watch have very simple solid casebacks. One the dial the hands are those lovely models that are sort of dauphine shaped with small ends and have that contrast polishing of satin and polished for a bold, legible look.

The simple standard Malte model for 2012 is the Vacheron Constantin Malte Small Seconds. It differs from the limited edition model in terms of the dial case material and movement. The movement is actually the same base, but here offered in the Caliber 4400 AS version with a small seconds dial. The dial for this model is more in line with the contemporary Vacheron Constantin aesthetic. Applied baton hour markers in gold with Roman numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock. Also a very nice piece on the wrist. This year the Malte Small seconds will be offered in 18k pink gold only.

There is also a smaller Malte model for women but I won’t cover that here. The high complication version of the new Malte, is the Malte Tourbillon. The case here is slightly bigger due to the movement, and is 38mm wide by just over 48mm tall. It is also thicker and contains Vacheron Constantin’s Calibre 2795 manually wound tourbillon movement. The great looking watch has a tourbillon window that looks massive due to the case design – but is no larger than on most other VC watches of today. The watch has an exposed caseback and the movement is as pretty as ever. Well integrated into the new Malte case, the Tourbillon is a strong looking high-complication watch with a relaxed personality.

Each of the new Malte watches for 2012 will be strong sellers in what feels like all Vacheron Constantin markets. As they redevelop the US market I think simple yet distinctive pieces like this will have a strong appeal to consumers looking for an elegant watch from a top Swiss brand. Prices are as follows: $ 24,600 for the Malte Small Seconds, $ 51,300 for the Malte 100th Anniversary limited edition, and $ 183,900 for the Malte Tourbillon.

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From:aBlogtoRead.com

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Vacheron Constantin is doing its good deed for the holiday season. 

The vintage Vacheron above was lost in a prominent NYC restaurant recently.  Vacheron was contacted by that restaurant about the loss, and now they have put out a call to the watch collecting community to help try to find its rightful owner. 

The watch has been identified as reference number 4413 and houses a manual wound 17 jewel movement, caliber P454/5B within an 18 carat yellow-gold case and dates to 1955.  Even more impressive? It still has the original domed crystal!

Vacheron is in possession of the watch, and whoever can identify where the watch was lost, approximiately when, and provide some historical background as to how they received the watch, will have it returned to them free of charge!

If this is your watch, or you know whose watch it is, contact Vacheron directly at 877.701.1755 or concierge.us@vacheron-constantin.com.

Don’t you wish all watch companies cared this much?

From:HODINKEE

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The owner of this watch named it the Vladimir. He was able to call it whatever he liked because he custom commissioned it from Vacheron Constantin. The brand is among the few that will entertain clients who not only want custom watches, but also custom watch movements. This is part of their highly exclusive “Atelier Cabinotiers” department. Do you know what it takes to design, prototype, perfect, manufacture, finish, and test a watch movement? Usually those costs are built into some type of economy of scale. Now think of all that for just one movement. We are talking incredible prices due to all the time and effort involved. Million bucks minimum. Luckily this client didn’t need to go through all of that, but Vacheron Constantin would have done it for the right price.

Call me crazy but I am guessing that the buyer of the Vladimir watch is Russian or Chinese. Clearly interested in astronomical complications, he wanted Vacheron Constantin to design and build him one of the most complex watches in the world. In 2005 Vacheron released what this piece is based on, the Tour de l’Ile. A limited production super watch that someone wanted to be even fancier (and more exclusive).

With about 900 parts the caliber 2750 manually wound movement is amazing. Vladimir needed something a bit more fancy, so VC added a running week counter (which tracks which of the year’s 52 weeks you are in). In addition to that I think that this piece unique model improves on the dial of the Tour de l’Ile watch in most every way. The dial is nicer, the hands are more attractive, the design is more polished, the colors are more luxurious, and the case overall is pretty awesome. It is like a celestial temple on your wrist. Why wasn’t the production version this nice?

The 47mm wide case is in 18k pink gold and the client wanted custom engraved animals around the sides of it. These are meant to represent the Chinese zodiac characters and look really nicely done. There is more gold on the dial, and all that lovely engraving and texturing (the dial itself is 18k white gold and hand machine guilloche engraved). I like the dauphine hour and minute hands much more than those on the non-Vladimir model.

So what does the Vladimir watch do? well the in-house made Vacheron Constatin caliber 2750 movement does a lot actually – couldn’t you tell? It has the time, seconds via the tourbillon, power reserve indicator for time, minute repeater (with cool bezel activator), power reserve for minute repeater, second timezone, moon phase indicator (lovely looking), perpetual calendar with day, date, month, leap year indicator, week in year indicator, sunrise time, sunset time, equation of time, and a celestial sky chart.

Some of those latter functions are set to a specific city – which of course the Vladimir owner set. What an amazing watch. According to Vacheron Constantin it took over 20 experts to create this one watch. I don’t even want to think of the price, but I am really jealous as this watch is totally amazing. This not-so-little-guy on the auction block in a few decades will no doubt fetch a mint.

Technical specs from Vacheron Constantin

Reference:                                80253/000R-9593   Atelier Cabinotiers Vladimir

Calibre:                                     2750           Stamped with the Hallmark of Geneva

Energy:                                    Mechanical, manual-winding

Movement diameter:                 36.00 mm

Movement thickness:                 11.25 mm

Jewels:                                     38

Frequency:                               18’000 Vibrations / hour (2.5 Hz)

Indications:

Hours, minutes, second on tourbillon

Minute repeater

Perpetual Calendar

Power reserve

Second time zone

Moon phase indication, age of the moon

Striking-mechanism torque

Perpetual time equation

Sunrise, sunset

Celestial map

Week number indication

Power reserve:                          Approx. 58 hours

Case:                                         18K 5N pink gold, 47.00 mm in diameter

Convex sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on one side

Manual engraving of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs on the side of the case

Water-Resistance:                      None

Dial:                                          18K white gold, Hand-guilloched

Minute-track painted in white

8 applied hour markers in 18K pink gold

Strap:                                      Brown Mississipiensis alligator leather, square scales, hand-stitched, saddle finish

Clasp:                                       Buckle in 18K 5N pink gold, Polished half Maltese Cross

Unique piece

Case-back engraved with “Les Cabinotiers” identification and “AC” Hallmark

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From:aBlogtoRead.com

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This is how Vacheron Constantin does America. Interestingly enough the prestigious Swiss watch brand has America to thank to a large degree for its success today. About 100 years ago the brand was doing very well here in the US and if you visit Vacheron Constantin’s website there is a history section that discusses this. Recently VC opened up its first US boutique store in New York City.

Where? Just look on the back of the watch and you’ll find engraved “Madison and 64 th.” It should be spelled “64th,” but hey, these are watch makers not map makers. Though I would personally would have redone the only 20 casebacks in the CNC machines. They are just steel right?

As I just mentioned, these watches will be limited to 20 pieces only and available exclusively in the brand’s new New York store. What happens if the boutique changes its location years from now? If that is the case then I think the watch will become even more of a collectible. It is almost amusing how the text on the back is vague. It is almost more fun this way than what you might expect such as “Limited Edition For America.” Then you also have Vacheron Constantin’s application of red, white, and blue on the dial -because you know, we like to honor the flag’s colors in our wardrobe on a fairly regular basis.

This is actually one of these pieces announced as limited editions for the NYC boutique in 2011. Perhaps more will come in the future. I like the Overseas model because it is a sport watch. Not like an actual sport watch, but more like a guy wearing a monocle in a safari outfit sitting for afternoon tea. It suggests you do more than just wear three-piece suits. I do however anticipate that VC will be updating its Overseas watch in the near future. Just a guess….

At 42mm wide the watch here is in steel. Oddly enough watch brands have been pairing steel cases with high-end movements a lot lately. I don’t really get it. Especially as they are not priced like steel watches. Sure the steel they use is nice, but it is inherently a cheap metal compared to white gold for example. Vacheron Constantin likes to say that this is the most complicated movement they have ever put in a steel Overseas watch. I believe them, and for the privilege of having one you’ll pay around 60 grand.

Inside the watch is an in-house VC Calibre 1136 QP automatic. With a chronograph, perpetual calendar, and moon phase (along with the time), I am impressed by its only 228 parts. Usually watches this complicated have more parts. Don’t be confused however, mechanically speaking the fewer parts a movement has the less prone to failure it is. I like how the hands and hour indicators stick out enough to have a high level of legibility on the dial. The functions are all contained within the four subdials that each have two displays inside of them. Attached to the watch is a blue alligator strap with a nice red lining. VC also includes a brown strap that should look nice.

As a limited edition Overseas model this Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Boutique New York timepiece is actually a lovely looking model. Limited to just 20 pieces it will no doubt prove hard to get and be rare. With the popularity of the brand these days I think they won’t have too much trouble with the asking price of $ 57,900 – even though it is very expensive for a steel watch.

Technical Characteristics from Vacheron Constantin:

Overseas Chronograph Perpetual Calendar Boutique New York

Reference 49020/000A-9718
Calibre: 1136 QP
Energy: Mechanical, self-winding
Movement thickness: 7.90 mm
Movement diameter: 28 mm (11 ¼ lignes)
Number of Jewels: 37
Number of components: 228
Frequency: 3 Hz (21,600 vibrations/hour)

Indications:
Hours, minutes and small seconds at 6 o’clock
Column-wheel chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour counters
Perpetual calendar (day of the week, date, 48-month counter with leap-year indication)
Moon phase

Power reserve: Approximately 40 hours

Case:
Stainless steel
42 mm in diameter
Sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inside, flat
Solid with stamped “Overseas” medallion, closed with screws
Equipped with antimagnetic protection

Water resistance: Tested at a pressure of 15 bar (approximately 150 meters)

Dial:
Dark blue, sunray satin-finished
12 applied trapezoid hour-markers in 18K white gold with white luminescent material

Strap:
Dark blue Mississippiensis alligator leather, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, large squale-scales, red leather inner shell
Delivered with a second strap in brown barenia

Clasp: Stainless steel triple-blade folding clasp, double security with buttons, polished half Maltese cross

Limited edition of 20 individually numbered pieces Exclusively for the Vacheron Constantin Boutique in New York “N°X/20” and “Madison and 64th” engraved on the caseback

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From:aBlogtoRead.com

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As the newest addition to the Historiques collection, the bold character and sculptural lines of the Historiques Aronde 1954 captures the creativity and savoir-faire of Vacheron Constantin.

Featuring a rectangular case, hand-made guilloche dial, double-rounded curve on the case flanks reminiscent of wings, and a domed sapphire crystal, the Historiques Aronde 1954 is an iconic creation from the Vacheron Constantin collection.

Perfectly suited to accent the wrist of any gentleman with an appreciation for daring design and mechanical excellence.

It is indeed a beautiful watch housed in 18K Pink Gold, featuring a handwind 1400 AS movement with the Geneva Hallmark:

Reference: 1400 AS
Energy: manual
Thickness (mm): 2.60
Diameter (mm): 20.65 (9”’ )
Number of parts: 98
Number of jewels: 20
Frequency: 4 Hz (28’800 v.p.h.)
Power-reserve (hours): 40 approx.
Indication: hours, minutes, small second
Certification: Hallmark of Geneva

From:The Breitling Watch Blog

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We swung by the new Vacheron Constantin boutique yesterday to photograph a really cool collection of historically important pieces.  These Vacherons are part of the American Heritage Exhibit, a look into connection between American collectors and the oldest continually running watch manufacture on this green earth of ours.  Some of the watches belong to Vacheron, and some are on loan from private collectors, but all are truly superb pieces and worth of your time. 

Below are some photos we took of the pieces at the exhibit, with one major exception; a watch we deemed so cool it’s worthy of it’s own post.  But, in the mean time click through for some closeups of some beautiful old Vacherons.  The full gallery is available on Flickr here.

The Vacheron Constantin American Heritage Exhibit will run through October 30th, 2011 at the Vacheron boutique, located at 729 Madison avenue (64th and Madison).

From:HODINKEE

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Last June there was a special Christie’s auction that featured a series of timepieces owned by James Ward Packard – namesake of Packard automobiles. The highlight of the auction was this specially commissioned Vacheron Constantin pocket watch made in 1918.

The pocket watch came in a hand-chiseled 20k gold case with J.W. Packard’s insignia on the caseback. The beautiful gold case was hand-engraved and the dial was simplistic given all the features the watch had. Inside of the grande complication was a beautiful movement that offered the time, 30 minute chronograph, minute repeater, and grande and petite sonnerie. You’d never know all that based on looking at the dial. Really a great timepiece – this guy has good taste.

This pocket watch was estimated to reach up to $ 500,000 at auction but ended up going for almost $ 1.8 million. The winner? Vacheron Constantin. Their museum won the bidding watch to add to their collection of historical pieces. Vacheron’s own forum TheHourLounge.com has more details and images here (images of the watch are from there as well).

Really a beautiful one of a kind creation. Packard was a serious collector and his legacy lives on in the watches he had built for himself.

From:aBlogtoRead.com

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