VACHERON CONSTANTIN – Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon – Tribute to Art Deco Style - Unique Piece 2023
Récits de Voyages - A watchmaking odyssey honouring arts and cultures of the world
- 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: among the various
destinations, the North American leg focuses on the United States, where
the Maison has been active since 1832.
- A masterpiece of engraving and guilloché work, this single-piece edition reflects a period of prosperity coupled with extraordinary artistic and cultural dynamism.
- Emblematic
of the Maison’s technical mastery, and protected by four patents,
in-house Calibre 1990 combines a bi-axial tourbillon with an
instantaneous bi-retrograde display.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
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. The new Les Cabinotiers
Armillary tourbillon – Tribute to Art Deco style watch, bearing the
Hallmark of Geneva, is driven by in-house Calibre 1990 featuring a
bi-axial tourbillon regulator with instantaneous bi-retrograde hours and
minutes display.Vacheron Constantin and Americas
Setting
up its first representative office in New York as early as 1832,
Vacheron Constantin was quick to identify the United States as a key
market. The Maison’s watches soon met with success in booming cities
such as Philadelphia and New Orleans. Within the space of just a few
decades, it found its place among the country's social and cultural
personalities, with a clientele including leading lights and captains of
industry.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Among the timepieces of historical importance to
Vacheron Constantin, many were made for
American clients.
Aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright placed an order in 1890 for
a pilot’s watch to be strapped to the thigh, the very first of its
kind. Three decades later, at a time when the Maison became a
shareholder in the American Watch Case Co case manufacturer, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers ordered several thousand watches. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The
cushion-shaped American 1921 watch, specifically created for the United
States, in turn testifies to the buoyant mood of the Roaring Twenties,
which brought a breath of fresh air to the nation. Art Deco was the
dominant style at the time, perfectly in keeping with this optimistic,
modern vision of a world in the grip of tremendous cultural
effervescence. This style imposed new architectural solutions that soon
reached dizzying heights in New York, before taking over the fields of
furniture, interior design, clothing and cars to the point of becoming a
comprehensive art form in the United States. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
It was
also a time when the wristwatch was beginning to establish itself as the
new horological standard, accompanied by the fanciful touches typical
of the spirit of the age. This period notably featured the aesthetic of
the American 1921, designed by Vacheron Constantin during these years of
intense creativity and now celebrated with the new Les Cabinotiers
Armillary tourbillon –Tribute to Art Deco style.A subtle combination of engraving and guilloché
With
its highly architectural design, generous armillary tourbillon and
openworked 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.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The master engraver juggled several techniques between the case and the rear movement bridges.
Bas-relief serves to obtain a more accentuated motif than drypoint
work; the surfaces are hand-chased point by point; while rounding off
consists of gently rocking the intaglio tool, whose rounded bevel is
fitted with thin sharp steel tips. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The guilloché
work complements the engraving techniques applied to the case in 18K 3N
yellow gold and to the movement machined from a nickel-silver alloy
chosen for its rigidity. On the front, the calibre is entirely hand-guilloché
in a perfectly geometrical, purely Art Deco-inspired radiating pattern.
The metal has been given a black DLC surface treatment to accentuate
the contrast with the colour of the case and bridges, again recalling
the combination of brass and wrought iron typical of Art Deco
ornamentation. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
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. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The technique used consists of removing material to bring
out the contours of the engraving. After drawing the motifs with a
scriber, the master artisan uses the pounced ornament technique, which
involves intricate chasing using a scorper, a kind of wider-tipped
burin. As the sculpture becomes progressively slimmer, the tool itself
becomes thinner. Particularly suited to three-dimensional creations
where volumes have little depth, this technique provides scope for
breathtakingly accurate details, further enhanced by the finishing. This
is the first time that the bridges of Calibre 1990 have been engraved. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Finally,
the folding clasp securing the black alligator leather strap of this 45
mm-diameter model was also engraved with Art Deco motifs.Calibre 1990, a movement featuring historical references
Protected
by four patents, Calibre 1990 has benefited from the technical
developments made on the Les Cabinotiers Reference 57260 watch, the
world's most complex timepiece to date with its 57 complications.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
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.
Confined to a wide flange, this track reveals part of the movement,
reinforcing the technical appearance of the timepiece already
accentuated by the construction of the regulator. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The
configuration of Calibre 1990 frees up the left-hand part of the dial,
which is exclusively occupied by the bi-axial armillary tourbillon
positioned at 9 o'clock beneath a bubble formed by the sapphire crystal.
The distinctive feature of this regulator – oscillating at a rate of
18,000 vibrations per hour and bearing the small seconds hand – is its
dual-axis construction with two interlocking aluminium carriages, each
rotating at a speed of 60 seconds. At the heart of the tourbillon is a
cylindrical balance-spring with no terminal curve, whose perfectly
concentric beating ensures greater isochronism and therefore enhanced
precision, in addition to the beneficial effect of the regulator's
rotation, which neutralises the effects of Earth's gravity.Each
of these two technical developments has its own historical reference.
The tourbillon owes its name ‘armillary’ to Antide Janvier, astronomer
and watchmaker by appointment to King Louis XVI, one of whose greatest
masterpieces was a moving sphere with a planetary wheel known as an
armillary. The cylindrical balance-spring dates back to Jacques-Frédéric
Houriet's invention in 1814 and is coupled here with an escapement
featuring an escape-wheel in silicon with diamond-polished pallets,
materials boasting a very low friction coefficient and requiring no
lubrication.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Four patents mark the technical
innovations of Calibre 1990. These relate firstly to the instantaneous
retrograde system, controlled by a single minutes cam that perfectly
synchronises the jump of the two hands at midnight or noon. The patented
escapement collet – a component securing the inner end of the
balance-spring – is made of titanium. This material matches that of the
regulating organ, resulting in improved regulatory performance. The
third patent concerns the architecture of the tourbillon carriage, which
rotates every 15 seconds to form the Vacheron Constantin Maltese cross
emblem. The final patent covers the silicon escape-wheel, with its
diamond-polished pallets offering greater resistance to wear and
friction.Les Cabinotiers Récits de Voyages series
Vacheron
Constantin's vocation has always been to perfect the art of watchmaking
in Geneva while remaining open to the world. The founder’s grandson
Jacques-Barthélémi Vacheron (1787-1864) was
the first to criss-cross the roads of France and Italy, followed by his
partner François Constantin (1788-1854), a tireless traveller who
oversaw the commercial development of the Maison. He established
commercial relations with Central Europe, South America, Scandinavia and
Asia, during a period in time when Vacheron Constantin was also gaining
a foothold in the United States and China, as well as in Brazil, Hong
Kong and Cuba.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
François Constantin's correspondence
stretching over a quarter of a century paints the portrait of a
Manufacture that was open to a Europe undergoing major restructuring in
the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna. This
scope and reach continued to expand as the Vacheron Constantin name
crossed borders and conquered new markets. Since that time, the very
notion of travel has been inherent to the values of the Maison, an
integral part of the human adventure characterising its nearly 270-year
history. Following in its founders’ footsteps, the Maison offers these
Récits de Voyages series as a watchmaking odyssey through the world and
its wonders, applying craftsmanship and mechanical art as its means of
expression.-------------------------------------------------SUM-UPThe
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
in-house movement features an open architecture conducive to the
finishing, engraving and guilloché
work. Several engraving techniques are used on this timepiece: the case
middle and lugs, along with the movement components, mainplate and
bridges, have been delicately sculpted in bas-relief, as well as guilloche-worked
chased and rounded off by hand.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The motifs are Art Deco-inspired,
reminiscent of the ornamentation on the New York skyscrapers built at
the dawn of the 20th century. Manual-winding Calibre 1990
benefits from the developments made on Vacheron Constantin's
single-piece edition Reference 57260 – the world’s most complicated
watch to date – to display the hours and minutes by means of
bi-retrograde instant-return hands and the small seconds on the
dual-axis armillary tourbillon. This is the first time that Vacheron
Constantin has performed engraving work of this kind on this movement.
------------------------------------------------
Interview with Sandrine Donguy, Product & Innovation Director
To
symbolise the Americas in the new Les Cabinotiers Récits de Voyages
collection, you are presenting a timepiece that reflects technical
sophistication. Why not opt for a solid dial that is eminently conducive
to artistic crafts?
In the range of
single-piece editions representing the American leg focuses on our
Récits de Voyages, we wanted to include a highly technical, highly
structured watch. The intention was to draw architectural inspiration
from the early 20th century Art Deco-style New York
skyscrapers. The choice was therefore for a watch with an openworked
dial that would provide a chance to admire the structure of its
movement. With this in mind, the ornamentation of the timepiece could
only be done by drawing on the dexterity and creativity of our master
artisans.
The approach is similar to the one that led us to choose a
Malte Tourbillon skeleton model to reflect Baron Haussmann's urban
planning projects in Paris. As the artisans’ work on this armillary
tourbillon timepiece is performed directly in the material, we also had
to play on the tones and colours to bring out the power of the
decoration. We therefore accentuated the contrasts between the color of
the case and bridges and the deep black of the openworked mainplate on
the front, obtained by galvanic treatment. To avoid disturbing this
vision which is at once subtle when it comes to the engraved dial motifs
and powerful in terms of the movement’s highly technical nature, we
opted for a bevelled bezel that was perfectly smooth and polished. The
engraver's art is expressed on the case middle by a bas-relief frieze
that extends to the lugs and is then repeated on the bridges at the
back.
You mentioned the armillary tourbillon in this model. Could you be more specific?
Calibre
1990 is a movement that has benefited from certain developments made
for the Reference 57260 – the world’s most complicated watch to date
presented in 2015 to mark the Manufacture’s 260th anniversary
– and these include this spherical armillary tourbillon. It is a
dual-axis tourbillon with carriages rotating at a rate of one turn per
minute so as to provide a small seconds indication. The name ‘armillary’
refers to astronomical spheres used to model the celestial sphere in
order to display the apparent movement of the stars, the sun and the
ecliptic within the geocentric theory of the universe. Antide Janvier,
one of the most eminent 19th century horologists, produced
several examples that made their mark on history. Without going into all
the astronomical details of these constructions, it was above all the
appearance of these spheres that caught our attention, with the highly
complex assembly of several rotating 'armillare' rings used for the
various astronomical indications, similar to our dual-axis tourbillon.
In terms of technical developments, it should also be noted that Calibre
1990 has been the subject of four patent applications relating to the
instantaneous retrograde system, the attachment of the balance-spring,
the diamond-polished pallet-lever and the multi-carriage tourbillon
system.
Do you have any other 'American' references in terms of complicated watches?
Definitely and they are among Vacheron Constantin's most prestigious. By the early 20th
century, Vacheron Constantin had built a solid reputation for producing
ultra-complicated pocket watches.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
At that time, manufacturer James Ward
Packard and banker Henry Graves Jr, both great American timepiece
collectors, were engaged in a perfectly friendly joust to see who would
own the most complicated watch. As part of this competition, Vacheron
Constantin created a watch for James Packard, completed in 1919,
incorporating a unique combination of complications including a
chronograph, Grande and Petite Sonneries along with quarter and
half-quarter repeater. Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The movement was housed in a finely chased gold
case with a personalised rock crystal glass. At the same time, Vacheron
Constant developed the American 1921 watch, a timepiece that set new
standards with its offbeat style. Through this timepiece, Vacheron
Constantin was no longer targeting only the great American families of
industrialists and financiers, but all those who were prepared to break
the rules at the height of the Prohibition era. =====================
TECHNICAL DATA
Collection: Les Cabinotiers
Model: Armillary Tourbillon – Tribute to Art Deco Style
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Reference 9860C/000J-090C
Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece
Movement
Calibre 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 minute
- 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, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, large square scales
Clasp
18K 3N hand-engraved yellow gold folding clasp
Presentation box & accessory
Les Cabinotiers special BOX
Unique timepiece
« Pièce unique », « Les Cabinotiers » and « AC » hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece
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Press Release - 2023
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Vacheron Constantin
Press Department
10, Chemin du Tourbillon
P.O. Box 95
CH-1228
Plan-les-Ouates/Geneva
Tel. +41 22 930 20 05
Fax +41 22 930 20 06
press@vacheron-constantin.com
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