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Graceful progress
THE DESIGN IS INSPIRED BY EARLY 20TH-CENTURY ARCHITECTURE, COMBINING BEAUTY WITH FUNCTIONALITY, TECHNIQUE AND HARMONY In this collection, the interpretation of the Art Nouveau style that characterised the period of revolutions and progress of the industrial age is particularly significant: it not only imparts gracefulness and elegance to the watches’ lines, but it represents a historical reference to a period when exchanges were accelerating and cultures were merging together. A time when railways were bringing civilisations and countries closer, and sharing a common time reference became imperative. It was during this period that large central clocks first made their appearance in railway stations, standardising the various time keeping systems. And the architecture of the representative places of progress itself was transformed: stocky buildings merely functional to providing a service became cathedrals of light and wrought iron that celebrated movement and the modern age. A process of change that left its mark also on watchmaking, as pocket-watch calibres became gradually slimmer and the first openworked watches appeared, at the beginning of the 20th century. The manufacturing techniques of these watches reveals the same yearning that inspired the architecture of the times: to reconcile aesthetics with technique. In the age of progress, Vacheron Constantin’s tireless research was continuing to produce pioneering results: as early as 1775, founder JeanMarc Vacheron had already made a watch with an openworked and engraved balance-cock, and in 1924 the first entirely openworked cal-
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Top, profile of a Métiers d’Art Mécaniques Ajourées wristwatch with “Grand feu” blue enamel ring. Below, detail of the movement with the Hallmark of Geneva. Opposite, a mainplate skilfully sculpted by the master watchmaker.
ibre was produced. Openwork movements for wristwatches made their first appearance in 1960, and instantly set new standards of excellence: the Manufacture succeeded in openworking complicated calibres as the minute repeaters, perpetual calendar and tourbillons, eventually in ultra-slim versions as well. To make the new Métiers d’Art Mécaniques Ajourées collection, the craftsmen at Vacheron Constantin have further ennobled the Calibre 4400, a masterpiece of fine watchmaking that ticks at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour, and boasts a 65-hour power reserve. The surprising and sculptural grace of the Mécaniques Ajourées, based on the 4400 itself, is the result of the meticulous work of Vacheron Constantin’s designers and master engravers. Indeed it takes all the experience of the best master watchmakers to achieve the delicate and exact balance between the hollowing out of the material and the flawless functioning of the calibre. The conceptualisation, design and modelisation phases alone require several hundred hours of work. By the same token, the work of the artisans is challenging as it is complex and engaging: each single component must be patiently engraved by the master craftsman to create the subtle contrast between the polished finish of the chamfering, which captures the light, and the matt effect of the hand-drawing, which accentuates the radiance. This art, in itself difficult to master, becomes even more sophisticated in the curved
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