All eyes and ears on brand
Show in Hong Kong promises to strike the right note with collectors and connoisseurs, writesCarl Cunanan
Watchmaking icon Vacheron Constantin traces its history back to 1755, but there is far more to the company's horological importance than just date or time.
Its founder, Jean-Marc Vacheron went from being a cabinotier, one of the craftsmen of Geneva specialised in particular components and crafts, to opening up his own shop and selling timepieces that bore his own name. He then went on to make his own complication and to produce his first engine-turned dials. His company passed on to his son and then his grandson.
His grandson Jacques Barthélémi Vacheron began exporting to other countries, and realised that other expertise was needed to handle the travel and development of new markets. François Constantin came on board to help with this, and the company sought an increasingly global audience under the name Vacheron & Constantin.
In many ways, the company did then what they and the other participants of Watches& Wonders are doing today.
Collectors and connoisseurs can expect to be enchanted, as Vacheron Constantin brings several pieces to the show that almost span their horological history, and reveal the brand's mastery. Jacques Barthélémi Vacheron was first a watchmaker with an expertise in the repeater mechanism, that complication which gives time not just visually but by sound as well.
The Sound of Time exhibition held during Watches&Wonders will be showing some of the company's enchanting pieces.
