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Vacheron Constantin on familiar ground
Watches and Wonders

Vacheron Constantin on familiar ground

Monday, 06 October 2014
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

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3 min read

For the Manufacture, which in 2015 celebrates 170 years on Chinese soil, the second Watches&Wonders fair in Hong Kong was almost a home from home. All the more so in view of the brand’s expanding sales in Asia.

If there were one timepiece to stand out among the marvels which Vacheron Constantin brought to the Hong Kong fine watch fair, it would be the Maître Cabinotiers Astronomica, rightly given pride of place in the brand’s reception room. This pièce de résistance from the Manufacture combines no fewer than fifteen complications in the new, hand-wound 2755-B1 calibre whose emphasis on astronomical functions leaves awestruck spectators seeing stars. Equation of time, sunrise and sunset times, sky chart, age and phases of the moon, sidereal hours and minutes, the seasons and signs of the zodiac are accompanied – naturally, one is almost tempted to add – by a minute repeater, a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar for a total of 839 parts.

The 170th year the brand has been present in China.
Growth in China

The second “event” of the day wasn’t so much to do with ingenious mechanisms as the smile on the face of our host, Chief Executive Juan-Carlos Torres, who announced, or rather intimated, the impending sale of this Maître Cabinotiers Astronomica, of which only one will be made, at a suitably astronomical price. Vacheron Constantin is, after all, revered in the region. And for good reason. Next year, 2015, will be the 170th year the brand has been present in China. “We have been in China since 1845 and have always cultivated our presence there with the utmost care,” observed Juan-Carlos Torres. “Today we have 24 points of sale in the country and, more widely, 15 Vacheron Constantin boutiques on the Asian continent. If we look only at the financial side of things, we are reaping the benefits of efforts made, with strong growth in mainland China that is more than sufficient to offset the slowdown observed in Hong Kong. China and the United States are currently our biggest markets.”

Understandably, in this light, Vacheron Constantin came out in force at this second edition of Watches&Wonders. The Maître Cabinotiers Astronomica is symptomatic of a rarely encountered approach to watchmaking. “We already had our Atelier Cabinotiers department where we manufacture one-of-a-kind, bespoke pieces for our clients,” said Torres. “This time we went a step further and invited our watchmakers to express their heart’s desire, the only obligation being to give free rein to creativity. The same person who made for Vacheron Constantin the Tour de l’Ile watch with its 16 complications for the Manufacture’s 250th anniversary is behind this Astronomica. It was a longstanding dream of his which, after four years’ development, is now a reality.”

Métiers d’Art, L’éloge de la nature
Like grandpa used to wear

Alongside this mechanical tour de force, the brand showed its strength in another area for which it is renowned, namely the métiers d’art. Two fine jewellery timepieces, a Malte and a Traditionnelle, demonstrated the Manufacture’s competencies in gem-setting, while L’Eloge de la Nature, a new Métiers d’Art collection, presents animal scenes with both Western and Oriental inspirations. They draw on ornamental techniques such as gem-setting, engraving, engine-turning and enamelling, but also Japanese lacquer and stone cloisonné. The extraordinary Empreinte du Dragon is another astronomical complication watch whose case is lavished with dragon scales that have been hand-engraved by one of the most experienced master engravers of his generation. Women can experience the mechanical magic of a Traditionnelle Moonphase and Power Reserve.

As if this weren’t already enough, visitors could end their explorations of the Vacheron Constantin booth with a look at a specially curated exhibition entitled Patrimony: The Essence of Pureness, a tribute to the Patrimony watch which first saw daylight in the 1950s. This immersive experience plunged visitors into the heart of the slim, elegant, truly classic aesthetic of the Patrimony watch. The kind favoured by our grandfather’s generation and that we now want for ourselves. This is something Vacheron Constantin is reliving through its Chinese customers, who are now paying their respects to their ancestors by wearing a similarly emblematic watch by Vacheron Constantin. Some things never change, and so much the better.

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