SIHH 2019: How Vacheron Constantin stays relevant – 260 years after it was founded

Vacheron Constantin wears the weight of its 260-year history lightly. As CEO Louis Ferla says, “The challenge when you have a long history is that you must improve and progress so you are still relevant to your clients.” He notes that the huge volume of information so freely available today means some clients are truly knowledgeable.

“They want more from us so we have to constantly innovate.” With every new concept, the brand asks the questions: “Is it a true innovation? Is it in line with our DNA? Can we apply it in a way that is commercially viable?”

These innovations can be spectacular. “One thing that is quite amazing,” says Ferla, “is that we are the oldest watchmaker, having made watches continuously since 1755, yet we are also a very innovative watchmaker.

“I just have to look back over the last few years – in 2015 we did Ref 57260 with 57 complications, still the most complicated watch ever made, then Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication 3600, which won the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie in 2017.”

Now there is Les Cabinotiers Grand Complication Phoenix, which Ferla notes is “an evolution of the research on Ref 57260” and which was eight years in incubation. The movement is highly complex and the case is heavily engraved.

Like it or not, you cannot be indifferent, Furla says. “It is unique and powerful, both from a technical point of view and from the level of the artistry. For us, it pushes the limit.”

Such watches never see the inside of a watch store and are known to the general public only through the media. Much more immediately recognisable are the collections which have been augmented by new options with arresting shades of blue and a sunburst effect for the dial. “For the Patrimony collection, it is Majestic Blue; for Fiftysix, it is the opaline Petrol Blue. We worked hard to find the right blue for each, to replicate, and then standardise it.”

Other stand-out innovations include the Overseas Tourbillon, with the blue sunburst dial but with the novel feature for a sports watch of three band options – stainless steel, rubber and alligator – which the wearer can change. There is even a do-it-yourself extension link.

Energy-saving has been on the minds of Vacheron Constantin designers working on the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar. “How to translate energy-saving into a watch?” Ferla asks. “A perpetual calendar requires a lot of energy, and a laborious resetting if it runs down, so the logic was to create a standby mode, to run at lower power, extending the reserve power from four days to 65 days.” This was achieved with dual oscillators that can be seen through the semi-transparent dial.

“Over the past few years we have really developed Les Cabinotiers,” says Ferla. These are named for the workshops of 18th-century Geneva watchmakers. “They are unique pieces of haute horlogerie, including bespoke pieces and the Métiers d’Art. As well as being unique, they must have something outstanding. These are more than watches, they are works of art, and the craftsmen who work on them are not artisans but artists.

“They help us push the boundaries from a technical point of view with complicated movements and help us from a craftsman’s point of view with their enamelling, engraving and marquetry. It is really an area where we can produce some of the best watches in the world, where we can push the boundaries and thus create new limits for ourselves,” Ferla says.

With Les Cabinotiers, Vacheron Constantin continues to challenge itself, technically, aesthetically and artistically, constantly seeking out new pinnacles of achievement.

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