A SHARED PASSION
Today, two major institutions – Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre – have decided to work hand-in-hand in a collaboration based on the transmission of knowledge to promote art and culture.
Time is a silent witness that has accompanied Humankind through our most grandiose achievements, such as the construction of a garrison tower started around 1190 and which was transformed over 800 years into a royal residence and then a Museum. The Museum, in the heart of the great palace, opened its doors to all to exhibit its treasures in 1793, at the end of the French Revolution. Nearly 200 years later, in 1989, a glass pyramid sprang out of the forecourt to highlight the Museum’s expansion. The Louvre became a public establishment in 1993 and now covers 72,735 m² of exhibition space in more than 400 rooms, welcoming an average of 10 million visitors a year – amazing figures that make it one of the most visited museums in the world.
The Louvre Museum didn’t exist yet in 1755 when, some 500 km from Paris in Geneva, time oversaw the birth of another future institution that very quickly made a name for itself for its watchmaking creativity and the technical quality of its elegant timepieces: the Vacheron manufacture, renamed Vacheron Constantin in 1819. With its long history and many inventions, its respect for artistic professions and beauty, the Geneva-based company is synonymous with excellence in the sector, an ambassador of good workmanship stamped with the Geneva Seal and recognized around the world.
In 2016, Vacheron Constantin provided financial support for the restoration of the “La Création du Monde“ clock, a precision instrument dating from the 18th century in patinated bronze and silvered brass, representing the four elements – water, earth, air and fire – and equipped with mechanisms powering the time dial, the phases of the Moon, a planetarium and a globe. This restoration, carried out with help from the Geneva watchmaker, was the first step in a majestic project that was announced today: an exclusive partnership between Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre.
This sponsorship agreement between the two institutions is based on collaboration in the area of craftsmanship, art and culture, and the production of horological instruments inspired by the heritage in the Parisian museum. A unique, historic example of shared expertise that pays tribute to Humankind and to time which has always accompanied us.
By Sharmila Bertin