Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Tourbillon
- Defying gravity in mysterious ways
- Defying gravity in mysterious ways
Oh my! Reviewing a watch like this, more questions emerge, than answers. Where do you even start? Enthralled by its captivating beauty I wonder, am I even justified giving my judgement on such a beautiful object? And what is this object? Is it merely a watch showing time? Is it a piece of art? Or is it a mystical mechanical component, made to defy one of the basic law of physics – gravity?
I don’t think this piece of art can be limited to be only one or the other. This is rather an example of when the whole is so much more than its individual parts. And when the boundaries of science, art and mystics are blurred.
History of the tourbillon
When Abraham-Louis Breguet found out that gravity is the enemy of regularity in horological movements, as a answer he invented the tourbillon in 1801. To avoid the disturbance gravity caused by pulling down on the escapement mechanism, he encaged the whole escapement in a rotating cage. It rotated once in a minute, evening the effect of gravity’s pull and thereby giving the watch more precision. Although the effect was more dramatic in pocket watches, as they are in the same position most of the time. The effect on wrist watches being very subtle, as they are changing positions much of the time, but it’s still there.
History of VC Tourbillons (wristwatches)
Vacheron Constantin started producing tourbillons in wristwatches pretty late. Beginning with the reference 30050 in the 1990’s.
It was rare, as were a few couple of tourbillon watches produced afterwards, often combined with other complications. Being very rare.
It’s in the 2000’s that they released their tourbillons to the public so to say.
One remarkable release in 2012 is the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle 14-day tourbillon.
A very high quality (almost flawless) rep of this came in 2017, but the factory went out of business, why it is very rare to get hands on.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon (gen)
Facts first:
Released mid 2018. Case size: 41mm. Case thickness: 10.4mm. Priced in RG at: 118000USD, Platinum: 149000USD.
This watch had an hour and minutes hand, a 60-seconds tourbillon with a colored screw functioning as a second’s hand. The movement was the automatic caliber 2160 with a peripheral rotor, and running at 18000vph (2,5hz), 80 hours power reserve and decorated with the Geneva Seal.
The RG version had a gold dial and gold stick markers, while the platinum had a platinum dial and white gold stick markers. On the periphery was a grey minute track. They kept the dial clean without anything disturbing the beauty of the tourbillon cage. Which in itself is remarkably decorated with the Maltese Cross.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon - The rep
I had the breathtaking experience of holding both the VC 14-day tourbillon and this VC Traditionelle Tourbillon in the hands and looking at it with a loupe at a watch Expo.
I had my doubts if I wanted to purchase this rep or not, given the flaws it has (mentioned below). But I bought it, because the looks captivated me. It’s like the girl you know she’s trouble, but you just can’t get your eyes off her. You just have to have her.
Facts first:
Rep case diameter: 42mm
Rep case thickness: 12mm (without crystal), 13,6mm with crystal.
Lug width: 22mm (confirmed)
Buckle width: 18mm (confirmed)
Strap: Black piece of garbage, as expected.
Case
The watch is heavy in the hands and on the wrist.
Gold color and quality: Gold color is a bit more red than fx the rose gold color of ZF, but less than the cheaper looking one’s with too much copper in them.
Finishing: Is good, it’s flawless and mirror polished on the whole case.
Case shape and size is different than the gen. The gen is almost 2 mm slimmer and 1 mm smaller in diameter and has a more “slim look” as the bezel is thinner and the lugs are lighter and thinner. The same is the case for the crown.
The case is exactly the same as the VC 14-day power reserve tourbillon. In that sense they haven’t made a case for this watch, but just used the old one it seems.
Dial
Dial is very minimalistic in its look, exactly like the gen, with rose gold applied markers and a silvery grey minute’s track, which gives a great contrast. The dial has a shimmery surface, which looks very good under spots and in restaurants.
The Vacheron Constantin cross and logo is crisp and slim like the gen.
Hands
Are double facetted Dauphine-type hands in rose gold like the gen. The central pinion is silver like the gen. A nice detail.
Tourbillon cage
Is well decorated, although there are some details that are not the same, it is still very convincing. One of the more prominent difference being: The maltese cross has 4 screws in gen, the reps are lacking two of them. One of them should’ve been dark grey to appear as a second’s hand screw, but it isn’t. I know this feature is there in the platinum version rep, which has a blue screw like gen.
Crystal
Definitely AR coated and is of good enough quality.
Movement
Is a manual wound Asian seagull tourbillon movement. The gen has a peripheral rotor. Off course, which is an impossibility as there are no available tourbillon movements with a peripheral rotor for reps.
Decoration: Is the same as the old version rep of the 14-day power reserve tourbillon. The movement is nicely decorated and looks convincing in itself. It has correct engravings without spelling mistakes, it has the Geneva stripes, the Geneva seal logo and the tourbillon is visible at 6. But it looks so good that you don't care much:
Bonus points:
Here I would give special mention to the deployant. What a genius person who designed iy. It’s beautiful, elegant and very functional. It’s made of two foldable parts, one for each strap – here comes the ingenuity – they made it longer for the strap at 6 and shorter for the strap at 12. You can therefore use the same strap lengths you usually use with pin buckles! I normally use 110/70 for my pin buckle straps, and modify these making the 6 o’clock part longer and the 12 part shorter to make sure the deployant doesn’t nag and Is centralized on the wrist. But here I can use a 110/70 strap on the deployant!
Major flaws
- case size
- case and lugs shape
- manual wound movement
- lacks the seconds hand screw (not a flaw in the platinum version)
Minor flaws
- “Pt950” print on dial, which is off course not a flaw in the SS rep of the platinum version
Conclusion
I won’t state the obvious or repeat the flaws here as I usually do. Because I won’t treat this watch like a rep of the gen (!). I would just like it to be seen for the watch it is. This is that kind of rep, and that’s the reason why I bought it knowing the flaws.
For a moment let’s imagine, that there was no gen to compare this watch to. And you know what: There is no gen. There are no 118.000USD on the account to spend on the gen. And the proposed game isn’t difficult to play. There are very few who will ever see the gen, let alone hold it in the hands. So convincing is this “rep” that it would need someone with the whole Vacheron watch catalogue memorized, to point out “this isn’t one they made and therefore it’s a rep”. And I can only confirm how visually convincing it is as a watch, because I had the chance to hold the gen in rose gold and look detailed at it.
We have at hand a well-balanced watch, that wears exquisitely on the wrist.
The dancing mystical tourbillon and the ticking sound is such a symphony, encased in such a stunning way. It appeals not only to the thinker inside, but also the creative being, appreciating artistic beauty.
This gravity-defying mechanical, mystical looking object is more captivating to look at, than the functional value it has. Some go so far to call it the most pointless complication. But then again, can’t beauty have a value in itself. Does everything need to have some kind of function to have value?
Human kind has always been attracted towards the beauty of shining gold. The warmness and shine of the rose gold is so perfectly harmonious with this watch, that It almost feels like it could never have been different. I personally therefore prefer the rose gold version of it.
The watch is refined in its appearance: It has a clean dial and a very elegant, non-complicated way of showing its complex feature: The tourbillon.
Being placed at 6, in a symmetric dial with no needless features, the watch is so light on the eye. And that is what Vacheron Constantin does so well and better than most in the industry. They don’t overdo the design. It is, as they heard the mantra: “The watch is complex enough having a tourbillon, we don’t need to overload the dial to make it look complex”.
The questions answers themselves really.
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