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Survey of Vacheron Constantin's Perpetual Calendar Chronographs

Vacheron Constantin has long been considered one of the “Big Three” watchmakers along with Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Each brand has been expertly creating timepieces of the highest order for over a century. When I collected vintage watches my tastes in horological appreciation have always been most sated by the models of Vacheron Constantin, which, more so than with Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, have a flair for the bold, especially in regards to case, lug, and dial design

When it comes to the chronographs I would always choose a Vacheron Constantin 4178 with its tear drop lugs and square button pushers, or the ultra-rare 6087, with its “cornes de vache” lugs, round button pushers, and screwed-down case back over any of the fine designs from the other Big Three watchmakers.

And even when it comes to the calendar watches, I too preferred the designs from Vacheron Constantin (References 4461 and 4240) over the legendary Patek Philippe 3448 and 3450, though I wished that Vacheron Constantin had competed more directly by making a perpetual calendar complication.

There is one complication combination on the vintage side, however, that Patek Philippe has all to itself, the perpetual calendar chronograph. Though extremely rare, models such as the 1518 and 2499 are beautiful, useful, legible, and desirable. I only wished that Vacheron Constantin made them starting in the 1940’s as well.

It wouldn’t be until 2000 that Vacheron Constantin would produce a true competitor with manual winding chronograph and perpetual calendar, but it would be worth the wait! One of the two crown jewels of the new Malte collection, the other being the Malte Tourbillon, the Perpetual Calendar Chronograph represented a triumph of design



The movement is Vacheron Constantin’s workhorse manual winding caliber 1141, based on a Lemania ebauche that also powered the Historiques Chronograph, to which Vacheron Constantin’s watchmakers added their own calendar module




The case is 39 mm in diameter, and pleasantly chunky at 14 mm thick and was available in either in 3N yellow gold or platinum. A hinged case back offered the owners a wonderful opportunity for a custom engraving and the chance the view the finely finished movement.



In 2007, the Malte Perpetual Calendar Chronograph was updated for a limited run as part of the Excellence Platine collection. The case expanded to 42 mm and the platinum dial was give a sand blasted Finnish. The movement is the same calibre 1141 QP as in the predecessor.



The watch is thinner than the original, and does away with the hinged case back cover.





There were only fifty made.

The focus of Vacheron Constantin at SIHH 2009 was the extension of the Patrimony Traditionnelle line, originally introduced in 2007, with new complications, and among them was a perpetual calendar chronograph, now in a 43 mm case:



True to the times, the yellow gold of the original Malte design has given way to the rose gold case preferred by today’s watch buyers.

Finally, in 2011, the platinum cased watch has been offered with a ruthenium finished dial that distinguishes Vacheron Constantin’s platinum watches from its white gold cousins.

The next step that we collectors anticipate will be the introduction of an entirely in-house chronograph movement with the addition of the perpetual calendar.


Bill Lind
VC Forum Moderator

http://vacheron.watchprosite.com/?show= ... 1993&fi=14

Αμαν...αμαν!! $

Μαριε μας αναβεις φωτιες με τετοια δημοσιευματα που βαζεις ... ωραιοτατοι χρονογραφοι απο την
αγαπητη εταιρεια ΥΩ Vacheron Constantin
και μηχανισμος Lemania

κουκλί το Malte

Two Vintage VC watches


I've been out of collecting vintage Vacheron Constantin since 2006, but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate great vintage VC watches when I see them! I've had the opportunity recently to handle a pair of vintage gems that makes me nostalgic for the days when I scoured the vintage markets looking for interesting watches to fulfill my collecting desires.




The Ref 4310 was one that got away from me. In 2005 I took my first trip to Switzerland for a PuristS-sponsored visit to Vacheron Constantin. I was to depart from Detroit on a Saturday night, and planned to attend an Anitquorum auction in Geneva the next day (What better way to commemorate a trip to Vacheron Constantin than to purchase a Vacheron Constantin in Geneva?). This reference appealed to me because the water resistant, screw down case back made it unusual for its time. I had been pre-approved for bidding and intended to attend the auction in person, so I did not set up an absentee ballot. Alas, someone blew through security in Detroit and was not caught, forcing everyone in the terminal to go outside and come through security once again, delaying the departure materially and forcing a later flight to Geneva from my connection in Amsterdam. I missed the auction, which is a shame, because I was willing to pay more than the eventual winning bid!

So I was quite pleased when I saw this one six years later.



The owner, a young man, told me that the watch belonged to his grandfather, and that it was the only item to accompany him when he left Cuba for the United States in the 1950's! While the watch was a little worse for wear (note the missing center seconds hand), I was confident that it could be beautifully restored by the experts at Vacheron Constantin in Geneva. While the work was extensive, expensive, and time consuming, the results are impressive.






The movement inside the 33 mm rose gold case is the calibre 466, an indirect center seconds design derived from the calibre 458, a 17 jewel, 20 mm diameter design that is a chunky 4.15 mm thick. There is no way I am opening up a watch just back from a VC service, so this movement photo from the same reference courtesy of Dan Shao will have to suffice:



Someone local to me approached me about a vintage Vacheron & Constantin that he had inherited from his father, sending me some photos and asking my opinion of the watch. This is a reference 4667, and the 32 mm yellow gold case contains the thin caliber 1001, an 18 jewel, 20 mm diameter movement which is only 2.94 mm thick. It is working well, so I didn’t recommend a service at this time, but I did suggest that he replace the tired calfskin strap he had on the watch with rolled edge glossy croc strap and to get a modern Maltese Cross buckle. It just so happens that the strap from the Historiques 1955 fits perfectly and is readily available from VC. Unfortunately I did not get the chance to photograph the watch with the new look, but I know that he is thrilled with the new, dressy look. Strap choice has a dramatic effect on the appearance of a watch.



Again, I could not get a movement photo, so this is courtesy of Dean:



http://vacheron.watchprosite.com/?show= ... 2718&fi=14

Look watch we found: Vintage Vacheron Constantin Doctor’s Chronograph Watch



After a strategically brilliant and hard fought political campaign, America’s first Jewish President is voted into office. Naturally proud of his incredible achievement, he asks an aide to ensure that his beloved mother has a prominent seat during his inauguration.

The big day comes. It’s a chilly January afternoon. Finally the applause dies down, the band stops playing and the President stands to deliver his first momentous words as the most powerful man in the world. With a satisfied smirk on his face he turns to his mother seated front row centre and says:

“Well mother, what do you have to say about your son now, The President of the United States?”

Expecting her to be tearful with pride and admiration he is stunned when she sternly remarks:

“I still say he should have gone to medical school to become A doctor!”

This gives an indication of the esteem held for doctors. ‘A’ Doctor was and is perceived as something very special indeed. Back in the 30’s even more so.

That’s why some of the finest names in watchmaking, Vacheron Constantin and Rolex, made special doctor’s watches, as much a mark of prestige as a functional timepiece for taking pulses.

The Rolex Prince – sometimes known as the Rolex Brancard (Brancard being French for stretcher) is perhaps the most famous of doctor’s watches, but this Vacheron Constantin in 18k yellow gold is a rare beauty.



It’s a vintage Doctor’s Chronograph available on Ebay for the presidential sum of $40,000. 33mm in size, it’s a watch dating from the 1930′s with a two button pulsation dial Chronograph on a silvered dial.

It features an easily legible blue pulsation scale, with black enamel markers, constant seconds and a 30-minute register. The hands are of gold with a blue steel sweep hand and register hands, It even comes with a Vacheron Geneve archival certificate. The watch is engraved on the back.



These desirable and beautifully crafted watches were often beyond the means of doctors, but were gifted to them by wealthy and grateful patients – again harking back to the esteem in which doctor’s were – and still for the most part – are held.

So if you have a son or nephew who has just graduated as a doctor and you have $40k to spare, this watch could be a much more meaningful gift than the new Chevy Corvette Coupe you had planned – and the watch is $10k cheaper.

http://www.clicktempus.com/blog/look-wa ... raph-watch

FOUND: A 1950s Vacheron Constantin Triple Date Moonphase....In Steel



We've discussed the glory of vintage Vacheron Constantin before. You're talking true top level work at prices often well below where one might expect to see them (see here, here, and here for examples of what we mean).

In Antiquorum New York's coming auction, there an exceptionally vintage Vacheron that you rarely see offered publicly. The watch is a 1950s triple date moonphase VC, that you often find in gold. But this one isn't gold, it's steel. And, as anyone worth his salt in the vintage watch game, a great timepiece from the big three made in stainless steel prior to the 1970s is a pretty rare duck indeed.

This triple date moonphase features a classic JLC-based, Vacheron finished movement dubbed the V495 that is arguably one of the finest finished movements of its time.



Antiquorum has set the pre-sale estimate of this beautiful steel Vacheron Consantin triple date moonphase at $12,000-$15,000. More details are available here.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2012/4/9/f ... in-st.html

FOUND: An Oversized, Ultra-Thin Minute Repeating Vacheron Constantin From The 1960s, In White Gold



The vintage minute repeater - who made them? Patek Philippe? Sure, but not many. Vacheron Constantin? Yup, but even less. In fact, Vacheron only made 36 watches in the early to mid 20th century that were minute repeaters, and all of them (as far as we know) bore the reference 4261. And, out of those 36 minute repeaters, only ten used a 13mm diameter movement, inside an oversized case. All 36 minute repeaters were in fact ultra-slim, with a movement of just 3.1mm thick and were typically made from yellow or pink gold, sometimes platinum.

And then we have the watch we saw yesterday at Christie's, which will be coming up in their May Geneva sale. This is indeed a vintage Vacheron repeater, and indeed it uses a wide (13mm ligne diameter) but ultra-slim (3.1mm) movement in an oversized case (36mm, but it feels more like 38mm), but it is not a reference 4261 like all the others. And it's not in yellow or rose gold, or platinum like all the others.



What you see here is a reference 6448 Vacheron Constantin in white gold - the only known to exist. All 4261 examples have the typical teardrop lugs, and look like this. This 6448 has squared lugs, and in addition to it being arguably the only Vacheron MP in white gold, it was made years after the other known watches, in the early 1960s (while all other Vacheron MP's were made in the 40s and 50s). What is so incredible about this watch, beyond the fact that few would ever think to guess it was a minute repeater by looking at it, is the incredible sound quality it still emits. It's impossible to show that here, but we had the chance to listen to it yesterday and we were blown away by strength of the sound.



This reference 6448 Vacheron belonged to a prominent man in the Church of Latter Day Saints and sold once before at Christies in 2005 for a total of $180,000. This watch is offered today with an estimate of 150,000 - 250,000 CHF.

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2012/4/16/ ... -cons.html

Του 1960 ε...?