Haute horlogerie has become the new language of modern art through which Vacheron Constantin speaks to its discerning brand followers. Of exquisite aesthetics, fine craftsmanship and engineering, it’s a style of dynamic pop art that keeps evolving and is definitely bang-on for the new year.
Vacheron Constantin certainly leads the way into 2022 and starts the year with the woke and ooh-wow reality that their fine timepieces, of luxury and refinements, are the new emotive popular culture and art of the times.
By drawing parallels between their exquisite watches with disarming, accessible pop art, Vacheron Constantin boldly showcases the new everyday reality of modern living.
Watch appreciation as a way of life is the way to go for the new year, and this new form of art appreciation transcends generations. No longer is haute horlogerie seen as stodgy and snobby, in part because luxury, legacy and fine craftsmanship are the new cool dos that the new gen are also embracing.
Pop Art Narrative
Pop art, arguably one of the most recognisable forms of modern art, is so pervasive and influential, often, as casual observers or even as part of its ardent appreciative audience, we are swept away by it without even realising it. That’s just how inclusive modernism not-so-subtly shapes minds, tastes and behaviours.
Vacheron Constantin’s pop art-inspired narrative to usher in 2022 – about wonderful clashes – is charging to change perspectives too. Just like pop art artists, the watchmakers and designers of Vacheron Constantin have always been inspired by the daring combinations and juxtaposition of textures, patterns and colours to create something distinctive and truly irreplaceable. In fact, Vacheron Constantin has built its reputation on twisting conventions, composing unexpected contrasts and playing with original effects to emote like no other timepiece art can.
Revolutionary Inspiration
Since 1755, Vacheron Constantin has been creating extraordinary timekeepers that take inspiration from the art and culture deeply anchored in the relevance, energy and vibe of the present. Each piece of wrist art communicates the uniqueness of every second, minute and hour, in the way that pop art is empowered to encapsulate the feels of the era, the season, if not the moment, in a remarkably creative and surprising way.
Like pop art, Vacheron Constantin’s watch art is also made to evoke wonder and amazement, to provoke sudden, intense emotion and sparkling, passionate conversation, discussions, debate and chatter, just like how art, pop or otherwise, elicits critique and commentary.
How would you like your 2022 artistic narrative to be? What sort of emotions do you wish to stir up?
Visit the Gallery of Splendid Seven
Vacheron Constantin makes your new year start with a memorable bang and pops with pleasurable emotions through their line-up of key haute timepieces that will make a brilliant showcase of your wrist.
The Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph that combines two Fine Watchmaking grand complications – the power of the single-push chronograph movement and the sophistication of the tourbillon – is breathtakingly handsome and powerful-looking. Swoon or feel empowered by it – either way, there can be no indifference on your part.
If this work of art makes you want to see more like it, check out the Ladies Traditionnelle Tourbillon, a decadent women’s update to the classic Traditionnelle collection. This first ladies’ self-winding tourbillon in elegant rose gold and white gold versions is truly fine jewellery powered by a sophisticated movement, with its brand-style Dauphine hands and matching gold hour markers, a fluted case-back, and railway-type minute track. Its impressively lean movement is pared down to mere fundamentals and artfully displayed through the see-through caseback.
Quietly stunning is the Patrimony Self-Winding timepiece. This real lady’s watch sits perfectly on the wrist, the better to admire it and to let others enjoy the view too. In feminine 18K pink gold, the bezel and external minute-counter are set with 117 round-cut diamonds. Its case houses a self-winding movement with an elevated oscillating weight in 22K gold, inspired by the Maltese cross. It is pure womanly watch art that captures the feeling of the moment, for generations.
A more broad-faced, open-hearted masculine version is the Patrimony Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin, also in 18K pink gold. This elegant interpretation of the perpetual calendar has a moon phase that features a star-studded sky and two gold moons. Its openworked caseback also reveals the exceptional hand-finished details of the self-winding mechanical movement.
Who would not be charmed by the Patrimony Retrograde Day-Date, a friendly-looking fella with its numbers and words seemingly suspended, so light and carefree. This stout 42.5mm original 18K pink gold watch features a rare combination of retrograde hand-type day and date display. Inspired by the designs of the 1950s, the hour markers and hands follow the gentle curve of the dial. The blue-coloured dial sports a circular-grained external minute-counter that reflects the light.
Retro-cool, like vintage pop culture, the Fiftysix Day-Date is both simple and complicated. With horns inspired by the sides of the Maltese cross, an integrated crown, and sapphire glass, this substantial 40mm, 18K pink gold watch pays homage to a model from way back in 1956. It displays the power reserve, a day-date indicator, and seconds on the dial. Its openworked caseback also reveals an elevated oscillating weight in 22K gold, inspired by the Maltese cross. It’s classic luxury with an elevated, modern twist. Awesomely timeless.
Playful, with a pretty metaphorical wink, the au femme Égérie Self-Winding timepieces are the icon of Vacheron Constantin’s ladies wrist art. Égérie, named for the famous nymph Egeria recurrently featured in Roman mythology, is where haute couture meets haute horlogerie and this meeting is imagined as a superlative timepiece. Égérie was born from the conjunction between these two fields of expertise, a watch featuring a classic look “draped” with a mischievous touch reflecting today’s women: inspiring, independent and charismatic. If there are gems we call precious stones, then there are precious timepieces we can call gems, and Égérie’s design and engineering forever earns a place in Vacheron Constantin’s haloed archives as such.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to embrace 2022 and pop into the new year!
Images courtesy of Vacheron Constantin. All rights reserved.
Related Links:
Vacheron Constantin: Silver Fox
Vacheron Constantin: American Angle
Triple Extension: The Vacheron Constantin Overseas In New Guises
The Technical Side of the Vacheron Constantin Overseas
