Once in a blue moon, when a grand manufacture, an haute couturier and perfumer come together, the result is a brilliant complication of progressive engineering, cutting-edge design, and an out-of-this-world fragrance experience
It is the watch marque that opened its first workshop in Geneva in 1755 and introduced the first complication in 1770. She is a Chinese-born, Paris-based haute couture designer and an official member of the Chambre de la Haute Couture who has lent her talents to global brands such as Maison Leonard, Hermès, Lancôme and Cartier. The providential collaboration between these two creative forces – Maison Vacheron Constantin and Yiqing Yin – has given birth to not one, but two timepieces: a concept watch combining Haute Horlogerie, Haute Couture and Haute Parfumerie, and a 100-piece only limited edition moonphase watch with Yiqing Yin’s desirable signature engraved on the case-back.
Égérie – The Pleats of Time
This tri-haute-factor concept watch is an exquisite sight to behold. It has a diamond-set pink gold case, a lilac mother-of-pearl dial adorned with a ‘pleats’ pattern, and an original haute couture strap woven with exquisite embroidery and mother-of-pearl shards. So enchanting is its design that for moments upon putting it on, its wearer will be enraptured to the point of feeling that time is standing still.
The sense of sight is not the only aspect this timepiece thrills. Encapsulated in the strap and randomly released according to its wearer’s wrist movements, is a dedicated fragrance created by Master Perfumer Dominique Ropion.
To the delight of the wearer, the Égérie Pleats of Time concept watch also comes with three interchangeable straps in colours developed by the haute couture designer and co-collaborator Yiqing Yin herself.
A seamless orchestration of haute watch engineering, haute design and artisanal scent creation, the newest star of Vacheron Constantin’s Égérie collection offers next-level multi-sensorial enjoyment of a marvellous timepiece. Its refined feminine silhouette is the perfect common denominator between Vacheron Constantin’s and Yiqing Yin’s aesthetics. The one-of-a-kind scent, nuanced and delicate, is also the perfect olfactory representation for this never-before-experienced timepiece.
According to Yiqing Yin, “This work recounts the sinuous course of water in a natural landscape, unfurling its scalloped volutes, somewhere between the fragility of shed snakeskin and the elegance of abstract lace. The irregularities adorning the strap bear the imprint of the human hand, creating a visual dialogue with the pure geometry of the dial.”
The roundness of the 37mm pink gold case embellished with diamonds, the ‘pleats’ pattern decorating the powdered lilac dial, as well as the asymmetrical geometry so cherished by the Maison, whose name appears at 8 o’clock in a diagonal with the moon phase and the crown at 2 o’clock, all combine to create a refined and original feminine silhouette into which Yiqing Yin has instilled an artistic appeal that awakens the senses.
Under Yiqing Yin’s design impetus, the dial is freed from hour-markers, extending an invitation to experience time in an intuitive and emotional way. Crafted in mother-of-pearl, it is draped in a ‘pleats’ pattern that unfolds in two stages across its entire surface: in the centre, encircled by fine gold ‘pearls’, as well as around the edge, extending the folds and hollows.
Yiqing Yin chose a muted lilac colour. She calls it “a feminine, evanescent shade like a delicate embodiment of a daydream”. This hue also embellishes the moon phase sculpted in mother-of-pearl. A row of diamonds enhances the complication, which is swept over by extremely slender hours, minutes and seconds hands. Yiqing Yin has also designed an exclusive strap ornamented with fine embroidery, in which mother-of-pearl shards are inlaid between silk threads.
The scent the Égérie Pleats of Time carries, randomly released in nanocapsules, like wisps of time passing through whenever its wearer’s wrist rubs against the strap, is a unique mineral scent with pastel, wintry, powdery and iridescent notes. It also contains a marine accord of ozonic notes and galbanum; notes of lavender and orange blossom; honeysuckle and immortelle, tuberose and ylang-ylang; orange and lemon; incense (olibanum, myrrh, opoponax) and oud. Complex and mesmerising.
Said Sandrine Donguy, Product Marketing and Innovation Director, Vacheron Constantin, “When we expressed the ambition to create an object that would be outstanding both in terms of the expertise involved in its design and its symbolic significance, Yiqing Yin immediately embraced the project. Every single detail – from the double-pleated dial in lilac mother-of-pearl, to the fragrance notes and the braided lacework of mother-of-pearl shards on the strap – was jointly imagined. Yiqing Yin has preserved the personality of the Égérie collection while infusing it with a resolutely Haute Couture allure that echoes her own creations. The end result is a balance between three worlds, bound together by shared values and a shared quest for beauty, dreams and refinement.”
Égérie Moon Phase
Inspired by the refinement of Haute Couture and Vacheron Constantin’s aesthetic heritage, the Égérie collection welcomes a moon phase watch issued in a 100-piece limited series, also developed jointly with couturier Yiqing Yin.
Paired with a choice of three interchangeable straps, this edition, with its 37mm pink gold case and gem-set bezel adopts subtle lilac hues while retaining the collection’s aesthetic codes: the mother-of-pearl dial is alternately smooth or decorated with a pleats motif, while the moon phase appears as part of a understated diagonal line formed by the Vacheron Constantin logo and the crown.
Softness, daydreams, elegance: these words apply equally well to Yiqing Yin’s creations as to the new Égérie moon phase watch. Softness is reflected in the lilac-coloured mother-of-pearl dial, which is either smooth or decorated with a pleated motif, echoing the first Égérie models. Mother-of-pearl, a particularly fragile material, has been meticulously crafted to create the pleated pattern surrounded by individually hand-applied fine gold ‘pearls’. The interpretation of the moon phase, also adorned with lilac mother-of-pearl and festooned with diamonds, is undeniably dreamlike. Elegance pervades the entire timepiece, expressed in the contours of the 37mm diamond-set pink gold case, in the slender hands reminiscent of dressmakers’ nimble fingers, as well as in the Égérie collection’s characteristic asymmetry: a crown set at 2 o’clock aligned with the moon phase and the Vacheron Constantin inscription at 8 o’clock.
Clearly visible through the transparent case-back, in-house Calibre 1088 L ensures accurate timekeeping, while its hand-crafted Côtes de Genève motif is swept over by the delicately open-worked 22-carat gold oscillating weight inspired by the shape of the Maltese cross. This Haute Horlogerie signature is echoed by that of Yiqing Yin, whose name is engraved in full on the back, along with the number of this highly exclusive 100-piece limited edition.
Adds Sandrine Donguy, “Without quite starting from scratch, Yiqing Yin succeeded in transcribing her refined world into the watch. Through her creations, she explores the dynamic capacities of pleats, imagining structures and volumes in motion, sculpting voids as well as seeking balances and breakpoints between floating and sculpted areas. A close look at the dial of the Égérie moon phase watch reveals a number of aesthetic parallels – not least the choice of mother-of-pearl colour with its complex shimmering reflections, reminiscent of the pastel tones found in Yiqing Yin’s couture creations.”
Images courtesy of Vacheron Constantin, artwork by Curatedition. All rights reserved.
Related links:
Vacheron Constantin: Forest Bath
Vacheron Constantin: Understated Luxury
Vacheron Constantin: Adventure Time
Vacheron Constantin: A Legacy of Understanding Women
One of Not Many: Haute Couturier Yiqing Yin Fronts Vacheron Constantin’s Égérie
