highlights


The virtues of being thin

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January 2010


In this period that has seen the appearance of so many ultra-powerful timekeeping ‘machines’, so many watchmaking ‘body builders’ bloated with testosterone, it is actually nice to come across the ‘essential’, to see a face that is unpretentious and straightforward with a slender size and timeless elegance.
Moving against the tide—or perhaps simply being avant-garde, only time will tell—Vacheron Constantin is reviving one of the most ingrained watchmaking traditions of its patrimony—the ultra-thin movement.
Historically, Vacheron Constantin has always excelled in ‘thinness’ starting already in the 19th century. During the early 20th century, the Geneva manufacture regularly tried to break the records of ‘thinness’. In 1911, Vacheron Constantin introduced three calibres measuring 2.82mm in ‘thinness’. In 1917, it created a 2.25mm movement, followed in 1924 by a 1.88mm movement, and then in 1931 by a 17 line 5/12 manual-winding mechanical calibre that measured a stupefying 0.94mm in thickness.
Among all these calibres, there is one—the Calibre 1003, 9 lines (21.10mm in diameter) with a thickness of 1.64mm and composed of 117 elements—that would become quasi-legendary thanks to its reliability. Developed in 1952, it would equip three round watches in 1955 that would break all records for that period with their total thickness of 4.54mm.


VConstantin

VConstantin


It is the exceptional Calibre 1003 that Vacheron Constantin is reviving today, 55 years after its birth. Reconstructed for the occasion, it now features bridges and a main plate in 18 carat gold and has earned the PoinÇon de GenÈve (Geneva Seal) thanks to the exceptionally high level of finishing. The Calibre 1003 now equips the ‘Historique Ultra-fine 1955’ model. Water resistant to 30 metres, with a sapphire case back and ti-tanium casing circle, the Historique Ultra-fine 1955 is only 4.1mm ‘thin’, making it the word’s thinnest manual-winding movement currently available in the marketplace. Not only slender, but pure, simple and essential, this watch marks the return of a very special type of timekeeping savoir-faire and mastery.
At its side, we find the ‘Historique Ultra-fine 1968’, a square timepiece equipped with another ultra-thin calibre, the 1120. Developed in 1966, this automatic calibre maintains the original dimensions—28mm in diameter and 2.54mm in thickness—but today it has an oscillating weight in gold and has also earned the Geneva Seal. The 1968 watch has been faithfully reproduced, yet modernized. Now water resistant to 30 metres, it is even thinner than its ancestor, measuring 5.5mm against the earlier 6.52mm of its predecessor.
This veritable diet in terms of size seems more than welcome and further affirms Vacheron Constantin’s great mastery in the art of watchmaking. It is often more difficult to make something simple than to make something complicated, at any price.


Source: Europa Star December-January 2010 Magazine Issue