TEMPO ADAGIO
No need to check your dial to know what time it is, this virtuoso creation chimes out the melody of time passing by simply pressing it at any moment of the day.
The Romantic musical movement encourages emotions rather than reason. Partitions are brilliant, moving. Vacheron Constantin appears to accompany this current with mastery by breathing if into the reference Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Ultra-thin – A romantic note. An eggshell-hued Grand Feu enameled dial, embraced by a 41 mm-diameter and just 8.50 mm-thick rose-gold case, center stages an hour chapter composed on gracious, slanted Arabic numerals. The pared-down composition is hovered over by a couple of Breguet-style hour and minute hands. Only a discreet slide-piece set between 8 and 9 o’clock hints at the presence of a complication, in this case a minute repeater. By activating it, the watch wearer sounds out the hours, minutes and quarters on request.
These notes are played by the 1731 caliber (65-hour power reserve). This hand-wound mechanical movement, the conductor of a virtuoso ensemble and fashioned with 265 components, benefits from the manufacture’s incomparable savoir-faire. It harmoniously accords subtlety, pureness of sound, esthetics, reliability and robustness, perfectly fulfilling all the requirements issued by the Geneva Seal (Poinçon de Genève). It is also set apart thanks to its totally-silent flying strike governor which regulates the rate with which the hammers strike the gongs.
This timepiece is complemented by a brown, hand-stitched American alligator strap, boasting saddle workmanship finishing and large square-shaped scales.
Price: on request vacheron-constantin.com
By Dan Diaconu