To celebrate an extraordinary 270 years of uninterrupted watchmaking heritage, Vacheron Constantin unveils The Quest: 270 Years of Seeking Excellence — a captivating exhibition that traces the Maison’s relentless pursuit of perfection.
An experiential journey through time, The Quest brings to life the values that have defined Vacheron Constantin since its founding in 1755. Visitors are invited to explore the Maison’s past, present, and future through a richly immersive experience that embodies its enduring spirit of innovation and artistry.
Designed as a world tour, The Quest began in Abu Dhabi in February 2025, continued to Tokyo in April, and made its way to China in July. The exhibition will travel across the globe throughout 2025, offering audiences the rare opportunity to engage with more than two and a half centuries of horological excellence.
From historical timepieces and intricate calibres to rare components and masterful tools, The Quest reveals the beating heart of the world’s oldest continuously operating watch manufacture. It celebrates a lineage marked by technical ingenuity, mechanical brilliance, and aesthetic refinement — a constant balance between precision engineering and artistic expression.
At its core, the exhibition illuminates the profound meaning behind Vacheron Constantin’s guiding motto, first adopted in 1819: “Do better if possible, and that is always possible.” Visitors move through four evocative chapters — The Beginning, Artistic Crafts and Finishes, High Watchmaking and Grand Complications, and finally, The Quest — each offering a deeper understanding of the Maison’s unwavering commitment to excellence.
The Quest is not merely a retrospective — it is an ode to the timeless pursuit of mastery that continues to define Vacheron Constantin today.
When Jean-Marc Vacheron took on his first apprentice in 1755, he could hardly have imagined that his signature would mark not only the birth of a watchmaking workshop, but the beginning of one of horology’s greatest odysseys. That humble contract, inked in Geneva, became the spark that ignited The Quest — a 270-year pursuit of watchmaking excellence that continues to define Vacheron Constantin to this day.
At the heart of Haute Horlogerie, excellence is never a static goal but a moving horizon — a destination approached only through passion, patience and the deft touch of the craftsman’s hand. For Vacheron Constantin, the road to mastery has always wound through the intricate realms of mechanical ingenuity, technical innovation and artistic creation. Each timepiece is a dialogue between science and beauty — a symphony of engineering precision and aesthetic grace.
Born in the intellectual ferment of the Enlightenment, Vacheron Constantin quickly distinguished itself among Switzerland’s nascent watchmaking houses. What set it apart then, as now, was a belief that the true worth of a timepiece extends far beyond the sum of its components. It lies equally in the elegance of its design, the virtuosity of its craftsmanship, and the invisible perfection of its finishing — those details seen only by the watchmaker’s loupe, yet felt by the connoisseur’s soul.
Celebrating the highly skilled men and women behind numerous watchmaking masterpieces, The Quest highlights the ancestral skills for which the Maison is renowned. Visitors will witness the age-old techniques such as miniature painting, grisaille enamelling, engraving, gem-setting and guilloché work, all mastered by the Maison to this day.
Since its inception, the Maison has asserted its ability to master the secrets of timekeeping while constantly pushing existing boundaries. In the Fine Watch room discover an interactive book, illustrated with precious archive materials marking some key dates in the Maison’s history – from the founding of the Maison (1755), when Jean-Marc Vacheron signed a contract to appoint his first apprentice, to the creation of the Kallista (1979), a timepiece carved from a one-kilo gold ingot and set with 118 diamonds totalling 130 carats.
The focuses on High Watchmaking invite visitors to decipher complications and discover some of the most complex movements created by Vacheron Constantin, revealing the full beauty of these mechanisms and their microscopic components.
The journey concludes in the Fine Watch Room — an immersive space celebrating the timeless bond between watchmaking and the cosmos. Beneath a mesmerising canopy of stars, visitors are invited to pause, reflect, and consider their own quest for excellence.
Here, the infinite vastness of astronomy meets the microscopic precision of horology. Guests can select a date and place of personal significance to reveal a bespoke celestial chart — a poetic reminder of their connection to time and the universe itself.
From the immeasurable sweep of the stars to the delicate artistry of a watch component, Vacheron Constantin’s pursuit of perfection continues — a quest renewed with every tick for over 270 years.
The London edition for this experience takes place in Harrods, starting from 16th October 2025.
Thursday 16th October – Thursday 13th November 2025
Harrods, 85-135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7XL
For more information please visit Vacheron Constantin