Celebrating its 270-year quest for excellence, Vacheron Constantin introduces the technically and aesthetically innovative Métiers d’Art – Tribute to the Quest of Time. The double-sided wristwatch, which took three years of development, is powered by the new manually wound Manufacture movement, Calibre 3670 and is the subject of four patent applications.
Enhanced by a blend of traditional artistic crafts and modern decorative techniques, the figure is set against a backdrop representing the constellations as seen from Geneva on the day of the Maison’s founding in 1755. It is complemented by a double retrograde power reserve indicator and a 3D precision moon phase with age of the moon. The reverse dial features a sky chart that displays the sidereal day and tracks the constellations in real time, accurate to one day of variation in 9,130 years. Conceived as an homage to the 270th-anniversary astronomical clock La Quête du Temps, Métiers d’Art – Tribute to the Quest of Time is presented in a 43mm white gold case and offered in a limited edition of 20 pieces.
The Métiers d’Art – Tribute to the Quest of Time watch encapsulates Vacheron Constantin’s continuous questto push the boundaries of mechanics to create art and beauty. With the new manually wound Calibre 3670 harnessing the Maison’s deep technical savoir-faire, the watch was three years in development and is the subject of four patent applications:
- Double power reserve display: indicating the six-day power reserve in two sequential displays – from 6 to 3 and from 3 to 0
- Governor for the retrograde time displays: solving the classical problem of synchronisation in retrograde displays caused by the hour and minute hands progressing at different speeds. This mechanism ensures that, for example at 11:59, when the two hands return to 00:00 or 12:00, they jump in perfect unison
- Moon phases and age: showing the exact age of the moon in relation to its phase. The spherical 3D moon is encircled by a ring marked with the age of the moon in days and both elements rotate together over a period of 29.5 days
- Moon correction: enabling manual adjustment of the moon display at any time of day without damaging the mechanism or disrupting the operation of the watch
The human figure uses its arms to indicate the hours and minutes in a retrograde display. While this aesthetic spirit was inspired by the 1930 ‘Bras en l’Air’ pocket watch, the new watch owes a key difference to technical innovation: while the earlier timepiece shows the time only on demand, with the hands otherwise resting in their neutral position, the Métiers d’Art watch allows users to choose between two modes of time display: ‘standby’ and ‘active’. The complex technical solution to making this possible owes a direct debt to the groundbreaking innovation of the Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar of 2019 (Calibre 3610 QP), with its standby and active modes.
When the Métiers d’Art – Tribute to the Quest of Time is in ‘active’ mode, the passage of the hours and minutes is visible at all times, with the arms functioning just like the hands on a standard watch dial. In ‘standby’ mode, with the timekeeping function running invisibly in the background, the arms of the figure remain in their neutral position until manually activated by a pusher at 10 o’clock in the case-side. After indicating the time, the arms return to neutral position when the pusher is reactivated.
A notable feature of Calibre 3670 is the combination of a high frequency of 5 Hertz, (36,000 vibrations per hour) and three barrels that provide a power reserve of six days – also inspired by the Twin Beat Calibre 3610. The ‘dual-mode’ retrograde time display – on demand or running continuously – requires a lot of torque at the barrel and combining a long power reserve and high frequency minimises disturbance to the amplitude of the watch caused by the time display.
Along with its technical sophistication, the 512-component calibre is a feat of miniaturisation, measuring just 34 mm (15””) x 7.8 mm. This enables it to be fitted into a case with the aesthetically elegant and very wearable proportions of 43 mm diameter by 13.58 mm height. The Poinçon de Genève certification attests to the technical quality of the whole watch, as well as its aesthetics and meticulous finishing.
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