Introducing: Vacheron Constantin's High Complication, High Art Les Cabinotiers Releases

The day after Vacheron Constantin celebrated the brand’s birthday (which just so happened to be the day after they unveiled an incredibly complicated clock with automaton in the Louvre), they called the press together at the headquarters just outside Geneva and said confidently, “We’re not done yet.”

The concept behind Les Cabinotiers is simple: “Yes, we can do that.” It’s the laboratory, of sorts, for the brand’s custom, one-off, bespoke, and special-order pieces for VIP clients (and even new ones who are willing to pay a lot of money and wait). The watches are hyper-complicated, often baroque in style, and far more than hyper-futuristic, often featuring the talented craftsmen and women in their Métiers d’Art workshop. That’s why you’ll see a lot of incredible engraving, gemsetting, and enameling in these pieces today. 

But Les Cabinotiers is also responsible for things like the Berkley Grand Complication and Solaria (the most complicated watch and wristwatch in the world). This is the time of year when the brand not only shows what they did but also gives potential customers a chance to get some ideas for their own custom pieces. No prices are provided, as these watches are either already sold or available by request only. Let’s take a look at what they’ve come up with for this release.

Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon ‘Myth of the Pleiades’

Can I get two, maybe even three of these? Comin’ from the space to teach you of the Pleiades, we’ve got Vacheron doing another version of their Armillary tourbillon, which is based around the Calibre 1990 launched all the way back in 2016. The hand-wound movement features an instantaneous retrograde system that synchronizes the jumping of the hands; however, the technical highlight is the bi-axis tourbillon, which rotates once per minute. The watch is quite large, measuring 45mm by 20.13mm, due to the dimensions of the tourbillon and the movement, which is 35.5mm by 10mm. But that provides a large canvas for Vacheron’s other crafts.

The theme of the watch is inspired by the work of the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevel (1611–1687), known as Hevelius, who, in addition to mapping the Moon, discovered numerous comets and compiled an exhaustive catalogue of stars. He also created one of the first accurate star atlases, and his engravings, particularly that of the Pleiades, were used for this design. With 450 hours of engraving, the watch features two scenes on each side. The crown side of the case has a scene of a cloudy sky with Orion, sword and shield in hand, emerging to do battle to conquer the Pleiades. That star cluster is protected by the bull sent by Zeus. The other side depicts the ship Argos, described by Ptolemy (circa 100–168) as an ancient constellation, with an image of the protective goddess Athena on its sail. The case is also set with 10 brilliant-cut diamonds in the exact spots to represent the Pleiades.

In the past, I’ve noted that the Armillary Tourbillon feels a bit anachronistic, from a time when clients were actually demanding large watches. However, I do find this situation to be the perfect use case. I saw the engraving in person, and the level of detail is nearly overwhelming. I have a hard time imagining wearing this in the first place, as each little line of the micro-sculpting (which has to be done with less than 1mm depth) is perfectly placed, and it’s not hard to imagine that a single ding or dent would ruin the work. It’s art, the canvas just happens to be a watch.

Les Cabinotiers Cosmica Duo Grand Complication

Here’s the watch that I found most impressive during my preview in Geneva. The Cosmica Duo is a double-sided watch featuring 24 complications, powered by the new, astronomically focused manufacture calibre 2756-B1. The watch, cased in 18k white gold, measures 47mm in diameter and 20.2mm in thickness. If that size fits you well, it can also be easily worn on either side thanks to its hinged lugs and quick-change strap, which can be flipped to accommodate either side. While Vacheron Constantin would never say it, this immediately struck me as their competitor to the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime. The comparison is obvious, but the execution is much different.

Compared to a more artistically styled watch, such as the Armillary Tourbillon ‘Myth of the Pleiades’ or the brand’s ‘Tribute to Bacchus,’ which are far less reserved, the focus here is on the technical aspects. The watch is manually wound, with a 60-hour power reserve, yet still powers the 1,003 components (featuring 112 jewels) that operate the 24 complications. According to the brand, those complications include the following: 

“Off-centred hours and minutes, day/night indicator, second time zone, 24-city indicator, day/night indicator for
the second time zone, perpetual calendar, sky chart of the Northern Hemisphere with local horizon zone indication,
sidereal hours and minutes, minute repeater, running equation of time (hours and minutes), sunrise and sunset times,
day and night duration, retrograde precision moon phase and age, tourbillon, power reserve indicator.”

The “front” dial, as it were, is most useful and legible, featuring a blue opaline with a circular satin-finished outer edge, blue mother-of-pearl inserts, opaline circular satin-finished and azuré counters, and lacquered 18K white gold applied hour markers. There, you’ll find the time-telling dial, a second time zone indicated by a skeletonized orange hand, a perpetual calendar indicator, a second time zone city indicator, and day/night indicators. There’s also the Northern Hemisphere sky chart.

The rear openworked dial is a bit busier, but shows off the amazing work on the caliber. Here, you see the power reserve, moon phases, indications of day and night, sunrise, and sunset, all displayed on small, two-level inserts of blue-tinted mother-of-pearl. The finishing features Côtes de Genève and circular graining, with hand-beveled edges.

During the preview, Vacheron asked us not to take any photos so that they could keep the presentations moving along for the large group of press there. But I was able to get a bit of special permission to photograph the Cosmica Duo more extensively afterwards, and I’ll have a follow-up story about this watch in the future.

Les Cabinotiers Grand Complication High Jewellery ‘Moon Dust’

The new high jewelry, high complication option from the brand is the new “Moon Dust,” with an 18k white gold case measuring 47mm and set with 200 baguette-cut diamonds (~9 carats) and 165 brilliant-cut diamonds (~0.92 carats) that, in person, really do evoke the image of the watch’s name. The side of the case is further engraved, using a combination of drypoint and burin engraving, which creates incisions approximately 0.1 millimeters deep. On the crown side, sunrays are engraved shining through clouds towards Earth, while the opposite side of the case features a view of the planets as seen from the surface of the Moon. The setting of the stones took 230 hours, while the engraving took an additional 180 hours.

The watch is based on the Calibre 2755 GC16, which features 16 astronomical and calendar complications, is regulated by a tourbillon, and includes an added minute repeater. The movement is impressive, but dates back to 2007, when it was unveiled as the successor to the 250th anniversary piece, the Tour de l’Île—a landmark for the brand. It’s a very impressive movement, and even more so, it’s also surprisingly legible on the front and the back. The white gold case complements the blue dial well. Next to the Cosmica Duo, this is probably my second-favorite release of the group.

Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication ‘Homage to Ptolemy’ and ‘Homage to Copernicus’

If the astronomical theme wasn’t apparent yet, here are two more watches to drive the point home. These are two unique pieces, with 23 astronomical complications each, made in reasonably svelte (for their complicated nature) 45 mm diameter, 13.91 mm thick 18k rose or white gold cases. This is the most contemporary movement here besides the Cosmica Duo, as the caliber 3600 came out in 2017. The movement has a massive 3-week power reserve, thanks to six barrels in sequence. That makes it more impressive that the movement is only 36mm by 8.7mm in measurement. That power reserve and size come with a bevy of complications, from perpetual calendar and precision moon phase, seasons, solstices, equinoxes, astronomical zodiacs, tide, a celestial chart, and more.

It seems like Vacheron is reminding people that they are the masters of the sky charts and celestial complications (as evidenced by the Berkley Grand Comp and Solaria), and somehow, they’ve made the watch into a package that didn’t nearly feel 45mm wide to me. The case, though much thinner than the Pleadies, still makes good use of the space. 

If you know your history, you know that Ptolemy was absolutely certain that the Earth is the center of the universe (he was wrong, of course; the center of the universe is Switzerland, just ask any Swiss watchmaker). To that end, the Ptolemic watch in white gold is engraved with a geocentric display of the sky that continues perfectly from case to lugs, with planets revolving around the Earth, done in dry point engraving, with the spaces between the ellipses hollowed with champlevé and then sandblasted. Meanwhile, the planets are domed for dimensionality. Copernicus took a different view, so the 18k gold watch has the heliocentric chart engraved on the case. The dials are grained in 18k rose or white gold that matches the case, and while the display feels far more technical, each complication has a clear, readable space on the dial.

Les Cabinotiers ‘Homage To Epic Warriors’ Minute Repeater

While all the other watches had some astronomical tie-in, these last releases from Les Cabinotiers are more about the craft itself (though the base is quite remarkable). Another famous complication in Vacheron’s annals is their skills with the ultra-thin minute repeater. The Calibre 1731 movement in this watch dates back to 2017, but it’s only 3.9mm thick. When cased in yellow or white gold, like these watches, the entire package measures 41mm in diameter and 8.59mm thick.

There are four pièce unique tributes here, each dedicated to a great warrior hero from history and mythology. The dials combine hand-engraving and grand feu miniature enameling to depict Alexander the Great, Antar (Antarah ibn Shaddad), Genghis Khan, and Sasaki Moritsuna. The cases are further hand-engraved with a really gorgeous and intricate taille-douce line engraving.

All the watches start with a 2N 18k yellow gold dial plate that is engraved over the course of 20 hours to create the background, which shifts from shiny to matte and in some cases has a wood-like texture. The enameler puts down a thin layer of transparent flux to protect the surface, fires it, then creates the silhouette of the scene in two layers of white enamel (to create a contrast with the dial surface). The watch is fired again before the miniature painting is done in six or seven layers. 

The dials are phenomenal. Truly. The dimensionality brought out by the layers of enameling makes them so enjoyable to look at. The Antar example is probably my favorite, with such a dynamic scene. Antarah ibn Shaddad is the most famous of the warrior poets who undertook epic quests in pre-Islamic Arabia and was descended from nobility, but was born into slavery. 

He became a notable and strong warrior and horseman, and in one of his adventures, he confronted and killed a lion, which is shown on the dial of this watch. While the movement might be overlooked, it’s a strong and nicely finished minute repeater that is worth appreciating. In some ways, these might be the most traditional of the Les Cabinotiers releases this year, but because of that, they are quite strong.

For more on Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinontiers pieces, visit the brand’s website.