Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom
Six watches, six artistic disciplines bring together an unusual group of crafts, all adapted to the miniature scale of a wristwatch.
Vacheron Constantin has long been one of the great names in artistic watchmaking, regularly using engraving, enamelling, guilloché and other traditional crafts to transform the dial into a canvas. For this new collection, part of the Maison’s “One of Not Many Crafts Programme”, the project brings together six artists and six disciplines into the world of haute horlogerie, each tasked with using their craft to create an animal-inspired composition.
Working with a 42mm wristwatch, with only limited space between the dial and the sapphire crystal, required that each technique be reconsidered and miniaturised. In some cases, new tools and processes had to be developed to make these crafts work at such a small scale. The Animal Kingdom series unites the six watches, although their interpretations could hardly be more different. Feathersnake uses miniature featherwork to create a three-dimensional serpent, while Glassoctopus centres on a hand-sculpted glass octopus. With Oraygami, the traditional Japanese art of paper folding is rendered as six miniature manta rays, and Tigerbroidery combines gold embroidery with silk to create its animal scene.
The collection continues with Papercroc, a white-on-white composition that uses embossed and cut paper to create a crocodile, and Woodenwings, which uses miniature marquetry and multiple wood species to create its decorative scene. Six radically different materials and techniques, then, brought together under one common concept.
All six watches share the same case and movement. Depending on the model, the 42mm case, 12.9mm thick, is made in either 18k white gold or 18k 5N pink gold. The series is powered by calibre 2460 G4, frequently used for the Maisons Métiers d’Art creations, like the Legend of the Chinese Zodiac or Tribute to Great Civilisations. This automatic movement displays the hours, minutes, day and date through four apertures positioned around the periphery of the dial. This leaves the centre almost completely free for the artistic composition, with timekeeping information kept to the edges.
Visible through the sapphire caseback, the calibre is fitted with a 22k gold oscillating weight specially created for the collection and hand-engraved with motifs inspired by the tools used by the six artisans. Each watch is worn on a calfskin strap with embossed decoration echoing elements of its respective dial. Price is upon request; for more details, visit vacheronconstantin.com.
