Representing significant technical and aesthetic challenges, these watches highlight Vacheron Constantin’s expertise in creating grand complication watches enhanced by the decorative crafts. The Homage to Epic Warriors Minute Repeater watches celebrate great heroes of history and mythology, Alexander the Great, Antar (Antarah ibn Shaddad), Genghis Khan and Sasaki Moritsuna, while showcasing the craftsmanship cultivated since the Maison’s very beginning.
On each of the 18K 2N yellow gold dials, the hero of the piece is miniature painted in grand feu enamel against a background representing the landscape in which he performed his great deeds, hand-engraved with matt and shiny finishes. Amplifying the beauty of the decorative crafts, the hand-engraved 41mm cases are fitted with the ultra-thin manufacture minute repeater movement, Calibre 1731, the chimes of which signify the victories won by the warrior depicted on the dial.
Throughout its 270-year history Vacheron Constantin has defined itself by its quest for excellence – a journey of exploration, discovery and achievement marked by many challenges and milestones, with one idea in mind: always to challenge and go beyond what it knows to be possible. The Les Cabinotiers Homage to Epic Warriors Minute Repeater series echoes this quest, inspired by the belief that the path to fulfilment is to be found through human adventure and exceptional achievements. The four watches pay tribute to four
great warriors – to their courage, perseverance and ingenuity in the face of great challenges and to the noble legacies that they left behind.
Vacheron Constantin’s rich heritage of striking watches is anchored by its first minute repeater pocket watch in 1806 and first repeater wristwatch in 1935. Building on this legacy, Calibre 1731 was the outcome of a four-year quest to solve the complex equation between a pure sound and aesthetic beauty, and a slender movement without compromising reliability and robustness. Named for the birth year of the Maison’s founder Jean-Marc Vacheron and introduced in the Patrimony collection in 2013, Calibre 1731 is just 3.9 mm thick, yet provides a power reserve of 65 hours from a single, manually wound barrel.
The tempo of the chimes is achieved by a flying strike governor that controls the rate at which the hammers strike the gongs. This regulating system is completely silent as a result of its using opposing centrifugal and centripetal forces. To amplify the sound while ensuring that it remains clear and pure, the gong is attached directly to the case. The beauty of the movement’s architecture is visible through the transparent caseback, which reveals most of the gear train as well as the hammers, gong and strike governor. Its open and airy look is enhanced by meticulous component finishes that combine to create an eye-catching play of light. Circular graining (perlage) on the mainplate is complemented by Côtes de Genève and hand-bevelling on the bridges, and hand-chamfered jewel sinks. Vacheron Constantin’s attention to detail extends to movement components that are no longer visible once the calibre has been assembled. One example in Calibre 1731 is the Maltese cross shape of a component of the strike governor – the Maison’s emblem.
The four Homage to Epic Warriors Minute Repeater watches bring together the savoir-faire of a master enameller and master engraver. The case is engraved with an intricate pattern that reflects the subject of the dial using the taille-douce line engraving technique. The attention to detail on the engraving is such that the minute repeater activation slide is also engraved. Created from thousands of fine incisions in the metal, each only 1/10 to 2/10 millimetre thick, these visually rich patterns require approximately 160 hours of work for a single case and its matching buckle.
Made of 18K 2N yellow gold, the dials showcase the crafts of hand-engraving and grand feu miniature enameling. The dial background creates a subtle texture of matt and shiny surfaces that play with the effects of light to reveal features of the landscape where the warrior achieved one of his victories. This delicate and precise work requires 20 hours to complete the background of a single dial.
