Vacheron Constantin Unveil Stunning Les Cabinotiers ‘Récits de…

Les Cabinotiers – Récits de Voyages sets off to discover the world and its wonders in the spirit of openness that has characterised Vacheron Constantin since its origins.

Armillary tourbillon – Tribute to Art Deco style

The single-piece editions in the new Les Cabinotiers – Récits de Voyages collection reflect Vacheron Constantin’s geographical expansion, of which the Americas were a major milestone. These new territories became part of the Vacheron Constantin world at a very early stage, with the first contacts made in the United States in 1832, followed by Brazil in 1835 and Mexico ten years later. In the U.S., the turn of the century was marked by an intense period reflecting the principles of Art Deco, which quickly became a comprehensive art form.

With its highly architectural design, generous armillary tourbillon and open-worked dial featuring a bi-retrograde display, the watch offers an ideal creative space for combining aesthetics with Art Deco style codes. Entrusted to the Maison’s master engravers, this task not only involves reworking the bridges and plate of Calibre 1990, but also adorning the case middle with a frieze extending over the lugs.

On the back, the three engraved bridges feature a motif reminiscent of the decorations on New York skyscrapers at the turn of the 20th century, with the added challenge of creating an uninterrupted pattern despite the break between the bridges. It took one month to complete these three components, not counting the bas-relief engraving on the case middle done by the master artisan and extending to the motif created on the back of the movement through a striking play of light and shade accentuated by the depth of the relief. The technique used consists of removing material to bring out the contours of the engraving.

A manual-winding movement with a 58-hour power reserve, Calibre 1990 features an instantaneous bi-retrograde display of the time indications and a bi-axial armillary tourbillon with spherical balance-spring. The time can be read on the right-hand side thanks to a retrograde display with grade 5 titanium hands moving over a semi-circular track punctuated by Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the minutes.

The single-piece edition Les Cabinotiers Armillary tourbillon – Tribute to Art Deco style watch represents the Americas within the Les Cabinotiers – Récits de Voyages collection, which symbolises Vacheron Constantin’s spirit of openness to the world since the dawn of the 19th century. This highly technical timepiece, measuring 45 mm in diameter and bearing the Hallmark of Geneva, is powered by Calibre 1990. This is the first time that Vacheron Constantin has performed engraving work of this kind on this movement.

Technical Specifications:

References: 9860C/000J-090C. Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece

Caliber: 1990. Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin. Mechanical manual-winding. 35.50 mm diameter, 10 mm thick. Movement power reserve: approximately 58 hours. 2.5 Hz (18’000 vibrations/hour). 299 components. 45 jewels. Front bridges: Black hand-guilloché radiant pattern. Back bridges: hand-engraved geometric pattern

Indications: Retrograde hours and minutes. Small seconds on tourbillon. Armillary tourbillon

Case: 18K 3N hand-engraved yellow gold. 45 mm diameter, 20.10 mm thick. Transparent sapphire crystal caseback

Dial: Black

Strap: Black Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, handstitched, saddle-finish, large square scales

Clasp: 18K 3N hand-engraved yellow gold folding clasp

Presentation box & accessory: Les Cabinotiers model

Unique timepiece

‘Pièce unique’, ‘Les Cabinotiers’ and ‘AC’ hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece.

Malte Tourbillon – Tribute to Haussmannian style

Next we cross to Europe, with the journey passing through Paris, a capital where Vacheron Constantin has had its own agent since the early 19th century and whose current urban planning stems from the major works conducted by Georges Eugène Haussmann under the Second Empire. This is the inspiration for the Les Cabinotiers Malte Tourbillon – Tribute to Haussmannian style watch, distinguished by its in-house manual-winding Calibre 2790 SQ, an ultra-thin skeleton movement featuring a tourbillon regulator with date and power reserve.

The entire movement and case passed through the expert hands of the master engraver, whose task was to sculpt the latter using Haussmanntype façades as inspiration, as well as to adorn each movement component with a motif recalling the metal structures of the Eiffel Tower. This meticulous task required 150 hours of work on a watch whose tonneau shape already evokes Parisian chic through the harmonious curves of its case middle.

The master artisan has left no surface blank on the 18K 5N pink gold case. The bezel and caseback are circular-grained and engraved with gadroons that are round on the front and hollowed on the back. It features a motif recalling the work of Baron Haussmann: while standardising the face of Paris, the latter encouraged the use of ornamentation, resulting in lions ‘taking over’ the capital, its monuments, its building facades and door-knockers as well as its parks.

The mechanism has also been meticulously finished and embellished, a task rendered all the more complex by the fact that it is an ultra-thin movement. At just 6.1 mm thick, given its tonneau shape and, above all, its tourbillon regulator, manual-winding Calibre 2790 SQ represents a veritable technical feat. The movement has also been designed to offer a striking view of the regulating organ, oscillating at 2.5 Hz (18,000 vibrations per hour), a relatively slow tempo perfectly suited to this mechanical ballet.

The single-piece Les Cabinotiers Malte Tourbillon – Tribute to Haussmannian style edition. Inspired by the major late 19th century construction projects that gave the French capital its current appearance, this tonneau shaped 18K 5N pink gold watch bearing the Hallmark of Geneva, features ultra-thin in-house Calibre 2790 SQ with a tourbillon, date and power reserve. The entire case and movement have been expertly engraved.

Technical Specifications:

Reference: 30135/000R-089C. Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece

Caliber: 2790 SQ. Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin. Mechanical manual-winding. 29.3 mm diameter, 6.1 mm thick. Movement power reserve: approximately 45 hours. 2.5 Hz (18’000 vibrations/hour). 246 components. 27 jewels

Indications: Hours and minutes. Tourbillon. Small seconds on tourbillon. Date. Power reserve

Case: 18K 5N hand-engraved pink gold. 41.5×38 mm diameter, 12.7 mm thick. Transparent sapphire crystal caseback

Dial: 18K 5N grained pink gold

Strap: Brown Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, handstitched, saddle-finish, large square scales

Clasp: 18K 5N hand-engraved pink gold folding clasp

Presentation box & accessory: Les Cabinotiers model

Unique timepiece

‘Pièce unique’, ‘Les Cabinotiers’ and ‘AC’ hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece.

Memorable places

As early as the mid-19th century, the Maison felt a need to explore Asian countries and establish commercial contacts, particularly in China, from its historical base in the heart of Geneva. This is reflected in the four Les Cabinotiers – Memorable places watches, whose hand-engraved dials are inspired by period illustrations of famous architectural sites in the Far East and Geneva. They are equipped with in-house Calibre 1120, one of the finest self-winding movements ever produced.

The dials of Les Cabinotiers – Memorable places watches depict four historical sites using a new technique that combines engraving – and for two of them a touch of damascening. Each dial is composed of several plates cut from yellow, white and pink gold, juxtaposed to form the different coloured elements of the painting, or even superimposed to give depth to this precious assemblage.

Before being assembled, these plates are first engraved using micro-sculpture techniques and line-engraving incisions. The challenge for the master artisan is to work on plates that are no more than 0.4 to 0.8 mm thick, and therefore not to exceed 1 to 2/10ths of a millimetre in engraving them. It takes no less than 200 hours to create a single dial.

Vacheron Constantin has chosen its ultra-thin 1120 self-winding movement to power these watches that discreetly display the hours and minutes by means of leaf-type gold hands. Following on from the legendary manual-winding Calibre 1003 measuring 1.64 mm thick and presented in 1955 to mark Vacheron Constantin’s bicentenary, the Maison began developing Calibre 1120 in 1966, this time with a self-winding mechanism. The objective was the same: to present an ultra-thin movement of great strength and beauty. This goal was reached in 1968 with the launch of a movement measuring just 2.45 mm thick and 28 mm in diameter.

To illustrate its Récits de Voyages in Europe and Asia, Vacheron Constantin is presenting four Les Cabinotiers – Memorable places models, each representing a single-piece edition bearing the Hallmark of Geneva and dedicated to the Maison’s spirit of openness to the world. To create the dials of these timepieces featuring the site of Angkor Thom, the former Chinese imperial Old Summer Palace, the Confucius Temple in Beijing and the Tour de l’Île – the Maison’s 19th century Geneva headquarters century – the Manufacture’s master engravers drew inspiration from illustrations dating from the 19th century, at a time when Vacheron Constantin was making its first contacts with China. The strikingly realistic dials were created using a technique unprecedented at Vacheron Constantin, consisting of micro-sculpting and engraving six to nine extremely thin yellow, pink and white gold plates measuring less than a millimetre thick.

Technical Specifications:

Memorable places – Entrance gate to Angkor Thom

Reference: 2000C/000R-103C. Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece

Caliber: 1120. Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin. Mechanical self-winding. 28.40 mm diameter, 2.40 mm thick. Movement power reserve: approximately 40 hours. 2.75 Hz (19’800 vibrations/hour). 144 components. 36 jewels

Indications: Hours and minutes

Case: 18K 5N pink gold. 40 mm diameter, 9.10 mm thick. Transparent sapphire crystal caseback

Dial: Hand-engraved 18K gold (white, yellow and 5N pink gold) and hand-damascened gold dial representing the entrance gate to Angkor Thom

Strap: Dark brown Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, handstitched, saddle-finish, large square scales

Clasp: 18K 5N pink gold pin buckle

Presentation box & accessory: Les Cabinotiers model

Unique timepiece

‘Pièce unique’, ‘Les Cabinotiers’ and ‘AC’ hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece.

Memorable places – Entrance gate to Confucius temple and Imperial college museum

Reference: 2000C/000R-105C. Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece

Indications: Hours and minutes

Case: 18K 5N pink gold. 40 mm diameter, 9.10 mm thick. Transparent sapphire crystal caseback

Dial: Hand-engraved 18K gold (white, yellow and 5N pink gold) dial representing a gate of the Imperial College and Confucius Temple Museum in Beijing

Strap: Black Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, handstitched, saddle-finish, large square scales

Clasp: 18K 5N pink gold pin buckle

Presentation box & accessory: Les Cabinotiers model

Unique timepiece

‘Pièce unique’, ‘Les Cabinotiers’ and ‘AC’ hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece.

Memorable places – Old summer palace

Reference: 2000C/000R-104C. Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece

Indications: Hours and minutes

Case: 18K 5N pink gold. 40 mm diameter, 9.10 mm thick. Transparent sapphire crystal caseback

Dial: 18K hand-engraved gold (white, yellow and 5N pink gold) and hand-damascened gold representing the Old Summer Palace in Beijing

Strap: Black Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, handstitched, saddle-finish, large square scales

Clasp: 18K 5N pink gold pin buckle