Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph Blue (5500V/110A-B148)

WORLDTEMPUS - 8 February 2013

Illustrious botanists such as Sweden's Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and Britain's Thomas Martyn (1735-1825) and Dr. Robert John Thornton (1768-1837) came of age during a time when artists and botanists worked together under royal patronage to describe, illustrate and celebrate newly discovered botanical wonders. The former two influenced the latter so that he created the "Temple of Flora", the most enterprising section of a work he called the "New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnæus," - which today ultimately inspired the magnificent Metiers d'Art Florilege collection by Vacheron Constantin.
Thornton's reference work inspired a modern composition by Vacheron Constantin more than two centuries after it was published. Consisting of almost 90 plates by top botanical illustrators and painters of the time like Peter Henderson, Philip Reinagle and Abraham Pether, it has become inextricably entwined with the history of botany, eighteenth-century exploration of unknown continents, and the resultant fascination with newly-discovered exotic plant species brought back to Europe.
Vacheron Constantin drew upon the unique expertise of its craftsmen and masterful independent miniature enamel painter Anita Porchet to produce a new opus called Metiers d'Art Florilege, which was created exclusively for the female wrist. A selection of plates from the "Temple of Flora," which was published in 1799, were meticulously reproduced on the dials of 18-karat white gold watches by combining traditional artistic crafts like enameling, guilloche and gem setting. The plates of Thornton's book were perfectly reproduced and adapted to the dials: the Queen watch, embellished with the South African strelitzia plant; the White Lily watch, featuring a reproduction of the Virgin Lily; and the China Limodoron watch, boasting an orchid with a distinctive shape and intense color that symbolizes wealth and refinement.

With amazing realism the flowers are reproduced to their smallest detail on three cloisonne enamel Metiers d'Art Florilege models fitted with mechanical manually wound Caliber 4400 movements with bridges, base plate and other components beveled and decorated by hand that shows off the kind of workmanship that goes into this outstanding caliber. Limited to a series of 20 numbered collector's pieces per model and boasting a bezel set with round-cut diamonds, Vacheron Constantin reserved an additional and even more special edition of only 5 pieces per model exclusively for its boutiques that can be recognized by the bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds.

Malte Lady
The nineteenth century was an age when a lady was not expected to know the exact time, and still less to inquire of it in society, says Vacheron Constantin. As a consequence of this, the Geneva manufacture decided to create watches as jewelry that came to symbolize the status of their owners. Nevertheless, even at this early time, one of Vacheron Constantin's first women's watches was a quarter repeater produced around 1810: proof enough that watchmaking complications were not only a masculine affair. Around a century later, in 1912, Vacheron Constantin became one of the first watch manufacturers to produce a tonneau-shaped case. Another century later - today - the Malte collection sees the launch of three models in pink and white gold dedicated to women and decorated with diamonds highlighting the curves of the tonneau-shaped cases. Measuring 28.30 x 38.75 mm and housing quartz Caliber 1202, they are slightly curved to ergonomically fit the most delicate wrist.

Patrimony Contemporaine and Traditionelle
For Vacheron Constantin, the Patrimony line is an integral part of a celebration dedicated to women's watches, and home to original creations in the Contemporary and Tradition styles that extol the jewelry-making skills of the manufacture. Its traditional, round case expresses the enduring classic style of this watchmaker. During the SIHH, Vacheron Constantin presented two versions of a ladies watch with a diameter of 36 mm. The first model boasts an opaline, silver-toned dial framed by a bezel decorated with round diamonds, while urban elegance extends its influence to a pink gold bracelet. The diamond-set minute scale, fine applied hour markers and slender hands for the hours and minutes are curved to follow the external curve of the dial itself. The central second hand sweeps over diamonds and gold while the date is displayed at 6 o'clock. The case's display back gives a superb view of self-winding Caliber 2450 developed and manufactured in Vacheron Constantin's workshops. The second model launched within the Patrimony line was paved with almost 800 diamonds, with the icy gems taking over the entire surface of the dial and invading the bezel and the outside of the bracelet. Again, the exceptional mechanical workmanship of Caliber 2460 was on display through the transparent back.

The elegant case of the new Patrimony Traditionnelle for women was shown reinforced by a new case diameter of 33 mm that is literally illuminated by a bezel set with 54 round-cut diamonds. The opaline silver-toned dial has applied hour markers and Dauphine hands made of solid gold. For this collection, Vacheron Constantin chose Caliber 1400, a manually wound movement boasting the Seal of Geneva, and whose finish is done entirely by hand following a tradition passed down through generations since the brand formed in 1755. Flat surfaces are adorned with côtes de Geneve and sharp edges chamfered and polished, even the heads and slits of each screw. Finally, a high jewelry model in a choice of a 35 mm or 40 mm diameter case sparkles with 16.2 ct of baguette-cut diamonds. The Patrimony Traditionnelle High Jewelry is probably Vacheron Constantin's brightest ambassador within this venture set to seduce a new feminine clientele.