Singapore Watch Club Releases a Collection of 15 Vacheron Constantin Chronographs 47101

Watch clubs are burgeoning worldwide to gather enthusiasts around a single passion: their appreciation of beautiful timepieces. We’ve seen this in all regions, such as, for instance, the Emirates Watch Club founded by Malek bin Easa. Travelling further East is the Singapore Watch Club, which was founded in 2015 and has been gathering collectors and watch enthusiasts for over eight years. And to celebrate their existence, 15 members have been working together with Vacheron Constantin around the creation of a collection of restored neo-retro watches, the glorious Chronograph 47101. The result is here, and it is stunning.

To quote its members: “The Singapore Watch Club was founded on 31st October 2015 when a few watch geeks who met on Instagram got together and bonded over beer, and the rest is history“. Born from the simple idea of sharing a common passion for watches, the SWC is yet another great initiative to raise awareness of watchmaking and collecting. Based on three core values of passion, sincerity and humility, the club has become a full-fledged horological community and a fraternity of passionate people coming together to share their appreciation of watches. The club also proudly indicates that its doors are always open to earnest and modest horology enthusiasts. However, what the club has done for its eighth anniversary is far from modest.

To celebrate a milestone, the Singapore Watch Club releases, in collaboration with Vacheron Constantin, a collection of fifteen Historiques Chronograph reference 47101 timepieces, restored to former glory and slightly modified to bring an exclusive touch. As a reminder, the Historique reference 47101 was first presented in 1991 and has its origins in the 1940s, being a re-interpretation of the chronograph reference 4178, a highly collectable classic VC watch. In 1999, following some minor changes to the movement and its new case with a screwed back, the model evolved into reference 47111, retaining, however, most of the design cues – including the signature, angular teardrop-shaped lugs.

Available mostly in yellow gold with some rare examples in platinum, references 47101 and 47111 were powered by the calibre 1140/1141, a stunning hand-wound chronograph movement with a column-wheel and horizontal clutch based on the Lemania 2310. – the same movement is still used in the Cornes de Vache chronograph.

What about the watches? We’re looking at a collection of 15 examples of the Vacheron Constantin Historiques Chronograph 47101, which belong to members of the Singapore Watch Club. These have been first restored to their former glory, including a complete movement overhaul. Then came the customization process to give these pieces their unique identity. It included the creation of a gold commemorative bridge, adorned with the initials of the Singapore Watch Club, hand-engraved by artisans of Vacheron Constantin, as well as a central chronograph hand with a red tip. Finally, each of the fifteen pieces will be accompanied by an archival update, documenting the enhancements made in 2023 to these creations from the 1990s.

As said, these 15 watches are now in the hands of members of the Singapore Watch Club, and we can only applaud the whole idea behind this collection. For more details, please visit singaporewatchclub.com.