Immediately, Vacheron Constantin releases a sequence of distinctive watches inside its Les Cabinotiers line. As we are going to see, these fashions deliver mechanical complexity, however that’s possible their least notable attribute. The unbelievable engravings and gem setting are the true stars of the present. Let’s briefly take a look at these superb timepieces.
To be completely trustworthy, I wasn’t overly aware of the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers program till I used to be invited to view a press launch concerning in the present day’s new fashions. In brief, that is the model’s bespoke division the place customized one-off creations emerge from the workshops. They characteristic excessive ranges of technical prowess in addition to beautiful shows of artistry. Along with engaged on buyer requests, there’s an annual “assortment” of distinctive items. Immediately, we are going to take a look at this yr’s sequence, the Récits de Voyages. Translating to “Journey Tales,” these watches take their inspiration from Vacheron’s historical past of worldwide enlargement.
The Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Tourbillons
The primary two items inside this yr’s Les Cabinotiers assortment characteristic the in-house 2755 TMR, a hand-wound tourbillon caliber with a minute repeater. A white gold mannequin is impressed by Arabaesque and the truth that Vacheron started buying and selling with Turkey in 1817 and Egypt in 1865. On this case, the engraving patterns come from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, and the work took three months to finish. With such a complication, it’s unsurprising that these are giant watches at 44mm in diameter and 13.50mm thick.
The second mannequin, in yellow gold, celebrates Vacheron Constantin’s work in the USA since 1832 and takes its cues from the Artwork Deco interval. We heard references to the Chrysler Constructing in New York Metropolis in the course of the press launch, and this inspiration could be seen within the shapes on the dial. Talking of this, Vacheron makes use of a mixture of champlevé enameling and wooden marquetry. Sure, the dial comprises 110 individually minimize and sanded items of pearwood and tulipwood. Extraordinary!
Memorable Locations
The subsequent watches throughout the Les Cabinotiers assortment have fun memorable locations for the model. Particularly, Vacheron has created 4 distinctive items to indicate a hyperlink between Geneva and Asia. The entire watches are 40mm large and 9.10mm thick and have the in-house ultra-thin computerized motion (simply 2.4mm thick). Three items are available in 5N rose gold, whereas one is cased in white gold.
Vacheron’s artisans make the most of a mixture of engraved and damascened gold plates together with micro-sculpting and engraving. Every of the dials is alleged to have taken at the least 200 hours to finish. So far as the scenes, the white gold piece celebrates Vacheron’s former residence till 1875, La Tour de l’Île. The opposite dials signify Angkor Thom, Beijing’s Previous Summer time Palace, and the entry to Confucius Temple and The Imperial School Museum.
Les Cabinotiers Malte Tourbillon
The Malte Tourbillon celebrates Haussmannian fashion and Vacheron’s company in Paris because the starting of the nineteenth century. This beautiful watch recollects the works of Georges Eugène Haussmann in Paris, and the engravings are accomplished in his fashion. The 38mm × 48.3mm 5N pink gold watch options the 2790 SQ hand-wound tourbillon.
The case and the motion have acquired unbelievable quantities of engraving. Right here, the work took over 150 hours. The precision is mind-boggling with impressively constant depths of round 4/10 of a millimeter.
The Armillary Tourbillon
The Armillary Tourbillon additionally celebrates the Artwork Deco fashion, however this time, the watch is supposed to have fun the Americas as a complete. Vacheron started working within the USA, Brazil, and Mexico within the first half of the 1800s. This 45mm × 20.10mm 2N yellow gold watch makes use of the model’s masterpiece caliber 1990. The motion is manually wound and has a biaxial tourbillon with retrograde hours and minutes show.
This Les Cabinotiers mannequin can also be wealthy with engravings on its case and has hand guilloché on the entrance of the motion, which bears a black DLC coating. The engravings alone on this watch took over one month to finish.
Les Cabinotiers Grisaille Excessive Jewelry
The ultimate piece on this yr’s Les Cabinotiers assortment is the Grisaille Excessive Jewelry. This watch pertains to the significance of China and encompasses a grisaille enamel dragon on its dial. The 40mm white gold case comprises 146 hand-set baguette-cut diamonds and homes the ultra-thin 1120 computerized caliber.
Grisaille, which means “grayness,” is a method of enameling that makes use of grey tones completely on a dark-colored background. Every layer have to be fired exactly in a kiln to disclose the deep and effective particulars of the chosen motif. As talked about, the watch encompasses a dragon over a darkish inexperienced enamel backdrop.
We hope you loved this take a look at this yr’s stupendous Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers watches. Naturally, in the event you want extra element, there’s a wealth of data on Vacheron’s official web site.
