Vacheron Constantin - The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac
Latest addition to the Metiers d'Art collection, the Legend of the Chinese Zodiac is a series of timepieces based on the 12-year cycle. These watches are enhanced by enamelling and engraving. China is famous for numerous discoveries including the invention of paper and is also known as the initiator of the art of paper-cutting or Jianzhi. This technique appears on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list and is echoed in Scherenschnitt, the popular art of paper-cutting born in the Pays d'Enhaut region of Switzerland. Sculpted in paper according to the principles of Jianzhi, the animals of the Chinese zodiac provide a remarkable demonstration of the art of using full and empty spaces.
Engravers and enamellers at Vacheron Constantin worked alternatively on this Year of the Horse model, crafted in pink gold or platinum and limited to 12 pieces each, reserved for Vacheron Constantin Boutiques exclusively. The leaf motif, stemming from classic Chinese iconography, is directly engraved in the gold dial. The pattern remains semi-embedded and stands out from its gold base by a subtle stage-setting of variously accentuated reliefs creating a depth effect. The raised bamboo stalks appear to be floating over the dial. With the horse engraving, on which the details of the mane and coat measure a mere fraction of a millimetre, the artisan provides a tangible expression of the artistic vision behind this creation. Then comes the stage of Grand Feu enamelling, a technique invented in Geneva and which remains the exclusive preserve of a rare breed of artisans. By applying the enamel in successive layers, the enamel specialist further enhances the visual intensity of the colored dial. The necessity of maintaining tight control of the colour and the reactions to the firing process that takes place in a kiln at around 800 to 900°C, calls for a specific way of reasoning that takes years to acquire. A final layer of enamel is then applied before a final firing operation that vitrifies the dial and lends a shiny glazed effect that gives added definition to the floral motif.
Calibre 2460 G4 animates the Metiers d'Art The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac timepieces. Vacheron Constantin perpetuates the art of watchmaking by providing a hands-free display of time. It does so through four windows respectively revealing the hour, the minutes, the day and the date. The first two indications are of the dragging kind and the last two of the jumping type, and each appears through one of the four apertures arranged around the central dial motif. Beating at a rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour, the mechanical self-winding movement is equipped with a 22-carat gold oscillating weight adorned with a dynamic geometrical motif inspired by the shape of the Maltese Cross, the historical House emblem.
Vacheron Constantin - The human face(s) of time
GMT XXL - Summer 2009
Can a timepiece serve as a cultural bridge between nations? The founders of Vacheron Constantin believed in and consistently supported this viewpoint. In 2007, the Manufacture felt the need to pay tribute to the most sublime manifestations of human genius. This long path of discovery led the watchmakers to journey through time and space in search of mankind's roots and to explore one of the finest expressions of the human soul. Which subject could most subtly evoke the human experience? The mask concept turned out to be an obvious one, for Geneva is extremely fortunate in having one of the world's finest museums of primitive art, the Barbier-Mueller Museum.
Its proximity guided Vacheron Constantin in its final choice. The Metiers d'Art "Les Masques" collection, therefore, grew out of a reflection on the near and far, the past, present and future, and the process of constant renewal. Once the museum was convinced of the timeliness of this project, twelve masks from the Barber-Mueller collection were chosen for miniature reproduction. These exceptional creations are now featured at the heart of the dial of each timepiece in a collection spanning 2,000 years of history and 4 continents.
Because Vacheron Constantin is intimately acquainted with the meaning of time, the Manufacture naturally followed the natural rhythm of such exceptional creations. It took many long months to develop the movement, before the master craftsmen applied various techniques to reproducing these works of art in miniature. The whole process implied taking time for questioning, for reflection and for invention, and because such creativity is indeed all about time, the Metiers d'Art "Les Masques" collection is a longrunning story. Over the past three years, a boxed set of four new masks has been presented each year in a limited series of 25, the most recent of which represents the final opus of this extraordinary collection.
Each timepiece is equipped with the self-winding Caliber 2460G4 movement, bearing the prestigious Poinçon de Geneve, or Hallmark of Geneva. This special movement enables time to be read off without any hands, leaving the centre of the dial free for the craftsmen express their creative talent. The movement has been completely redesigned to receive the masks; even though time is the governing principle here, the masks are the center-piece and must accordingly be placed firmly in the spotlight. To ensure attention is focused on them, the design team had the idea of almost entirely concealing the movement. Thanks to a clever play on transparency and the special treatment of the glass, the mask seems to be actually suspended in thin air. The effect is truly dramatic, making the miniature mask appear to be within reach, the silent garden of time-honored ancestral secrets.
In order to successfully fulfill this creative adventure, the Manufacture patiently fine-tuned these works of art, faithfully reproducing the model and devising combinations of techniques blending past and future, traditions and cutting-edge technologies. The perfect miniaturization of the masks in the third boxed set is a perfect example of this approach. From the Indonesian mask with its lifelike expression of amazement, to the profoundly sacred aura radiating from the Chinese mask, the powerful and austere profile of the Mexican pendant mask, or the melancholy gaze of the Gabonese mask, This summer, Vacheron Constantin is going for gray with two new models in the Overseas collection.
In the Overseas Automatic and the Overseas Automatic Chronograph, the Manufacture takes the theme to its ultimate conclusion with a slate gray dial, mouse gray strap, anthracite gray titanium bezel and gray steel case. This subtle color palette is admirably suited to this dynamic, sporting line dedicated since 1996 to all continenthopping devotees of technical and aesthetic excellence.
The generous 42 mm-diameter case of these two new models features all the signature characteristics of the Overseas collection: streamlined design, Maltese Cross-inspired bezel, hour-markers and screw-lock pushers for the chronograph version; hour-markers highlighted by luminescent white material, water resistance to 150 meters, as well as the three-masted Amerigo Vespucci sailing ship motif symbolizing the Overseas line and engraved on the solid case-back. This fascinating travel invitation combining functionality and readability beats to the rhythm of a mechanical self-winding movement Caliber 1226 for the conventional model and Caliber 1137 for the chronograph model - entirely protected by a dedicated soft iron casing that makes it completely impervious to the effects of magnetism that are omnipresent in our daily lives and liable to affect the regularity of rate and thus the accuracy of the watch.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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