Following last year’s presentation of the reinterpretation of the Chronomètre Royal 1907 to celebrate that watch’s 100th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin is now presenting the Historiques American 1921. This timepiece is inspired by an avant-garde cushion-shaped wristwatch featuring a crown at the 1 o’clock position but opposite 12 o’clock on the dial and produced in very limited numbers by the Geneva-based manufacture specifically for the American market during the Roaring Twenties.
Classically inspired, elegant, unpretentious but original, and a real dandy of a watch, this model features a case that is faithful to the original and still cushion-shaped, but now crafted in 18 carat pink gold and with a diameter of 40 mm. Its most distinguishing characteristic is the diagonal reading of the time, with the crown positioned at one o’clock like the original model.
The dial, with its sand-blasted finish, has 12 Arabic numerals and a minute-track painted in black. The Breguet hour and minute hands are in black oxidized 18 carat gold. The seconds-counter hand at 4 o’clock, however, is baton-shaped, though also in black oxidized 18 carat gold.
The case, featuring a slightly convex sapphire crystal, has a transparent back through which one can admire the exceptional finishing of the brand new manual-winding 4400 movement, developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin and stamped with the Hallmark of Geneva. The movement, which is 28 mm in diameter and 2.8 mm high, indicates hours and minutes, with the seconds on a subdial, and has a frequency of 28,800 vibrations / hour and a power reserve of around 65 hours.
Water-resistant to 3 bar, the approximate equivalent of 30 metres, this new model comes on a dark-brown, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, square-scaled alligator leather strap adorned with an 18 carat pink gold buckle in the shape of a half Maltese cross.
The production of the Historiques American 1921 will be limited.


Source: Europa Star December-January 2009 Magazine Issue