Vacheron Constantin’s Artful New Collection
The Swiss manufacture brings pieces of the Louvre to the wrist.
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Vacheron Constantin’s latest Metier’s d’Art collection, named ‘Tribute To Great Civilisations’ is a rare series of timepieces featuring a moment in time, if you’ll pardon the pun.
Here, the collection was designed in close collaboration with the Louvre and each watch references a piece in the museum’s heady collection of antiquities — the Grand sphinx de Tanis, Lion de Darius, Victoire de Samothrace, and Buste d’Auguste.
Each 42mm watch in the collection employs a different craft technique that reflects the art that inspired and is powered by Vacheron Constantin’s self-winding manufacture calibre 2460 G4/2. The hours, minutes, day and date are shown in apertures around the edge of the dial with the dial freed from those pesky hands we’re so accustomed to in order to give the artisans as much surface area as possible to work. The watch features an engraving of era-related text on the sapphire.
The Great Sphinx de Tanis
Held by the Louvre since 1826, the Great Sphinx de Tanis has been reimagined on a blue-black enamel dial. Flanking the hand-engraved sphinx at the centre of the dial the necklace feature champleve enamel petals, soeme of which are purposefully patinated, while hieroglyphics in a metalised engraving are also found here.
The Lion De Darius
Found on the Frieze Of Lions courtyard of the palace of Dariius the Great in Susa of what is now Iran, the watch captures the texture of the site using stone marquetry — assembled with stone Fragments. The watch also features engraved metal and champlevé enamel inspired by the Frieze of Archers and, of course, an enamelled lion within an 18-carat pink gold case.
The Victoire de Samothrace
Also known as the Nike of Samothrace is a statue from Hellenistic Greece. Here, the watch features a dimple brown dial and grisaille enamelling on the outer dial in the style of Greek vases with an 18-carat white gold case.
The Buste D’Auguste
Here, impressively, the dal of the Busted’Auguste piece pays tribute to the bust of Octavian Augustus, from The Roman Empire takes its cues from the breastplated emperor using a mix of carved gold applique for the figure. The background sees more than 660 stones were used to craft the mosaic motifs all encapsulated in a.white gold case.
The watches are rare, and naturally POA, with Vacheron Constantin limiting the four new watches to a run of five each, so if you want one, tick tock.
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