Post by Archer on Jul 13, 2007 8:07:59 GMT -6
This will be a long report, so grab a beer or your other favourite beverage, get comfortable, and please enjoy! 
Vacheron Constantin was another full day tour like Patek was (it was actually the day before the Patek tour). It was a similar schedule in that we first visited the manufacturing shops, then had lunch, and then went to the VC museum. I don’t own a VC watch, but I do like some of their designs very much, particularly some of their plain dress watches.
VC is truly the oldest continuous operating watch company in the world. Although Blancpain has the 1735 date on their watches and uses that date a great deal in their marketing, they were nothing but a name for some time until Jean-Claude Biver revived the company. In comparison, VC has been in operation continuously since 1755. Of course in 2005 they celebrated their 250th anniversary with many celebrations and some incredible watches.
On this tour we were given a completely free hand to photograph absolutely anything and everything we wanted. The only thing they asked is that we minimize the use of our flashes, and were careful not to blind some unsuspecting watch maker who was working on something. An absolutely reasonable request and certainly I would hate to take a photo that caused someone to mess up an expensive piece!
The VC factory is an impressive building in the Plan-les-Ouates area of Geneva. It’s not far from one of the Rolex factories that I showed photos of in report #9.
The building was opened in 2005 and uses a lot of glass…..3,000 square metres of glass in fact! The building houses 250 employees in total, including those related to production and administration. As you will see in addition to glass there is a lot of wood. The building has a very modern and clean feel to it. I found a photo on-line of the building lit up at night…..very nice!
We were greeted out front on an overcast morning….
The lobby was quite nice, and they had some innovative displays. They also had some of the nicest orchids I have ever seen!
We were broken up into “technical” and “non-technical” groups, and our technical group was lead by Mr. Rudolf Bull whose title is “Expert Master Watch Maker.” I have no idea how the titles work or if there is some industry standard for this or if it’s just a corporate title. In any case, this man knew his stuff! He had an incredible sense of humour, and was the most honest and open guide we had on any of our major factory tours. There was literally no question about the process or business that he would not answer, even if it was not necessarily favourable to VC. I appreciated his knowledge, candor, and humour immensely. Here we are donning our gowns and boots, and getting ready to enter the shops. Mr. Bull is on the right of the photo with the white beard.
We first went to an assembly area….the building was very nice inside, and despite it being a dreary day the lighting was very good for the people assembling watches.
VC currently makes about 50% of the movements they use. They are ramping up so that in the next 2-3 years, 80% will be “in-house” and their goal is to be 100% in-house eventually. Here is some documentation related to the Geneva seals placed on VC’s watch movements. I have some photos of a model movement that shows some of the details needed for this certification later in the report.
We then studied some of the movements that are assembled here.
This is a Cal. 1003 in a skeletonized version. I’m not a huge fan of skeleton movements in general, but the work on this one was outstanding! My photos certainly do not do it justice!
Here is a video of the 1003 movement ticking as seen through a microscope!
media.putfile.com/Vacheron-skeleton-movement
Here is an auto movement skeletonzied, a model 1120. Makes me seriously want to consider a skeleton watch!
View of a movement being worked on….
Now here is something that surprised me a bit. According to the numbers I was given, VC makes somewhere around 18,000 mechanical watches per year, so when compared to many other companies, it’s pretty low volume for a big house. I was surprised to find a certain level of automation here! These are several photos of a watch making bench that is semi-automated. Movements are in small trays that are set on conveyor belts that are integrated into the bench. As the watch maker sits at the bench, a movement comes along to the working position, and is raised to the proper working height on a cylinder. The worker places the part into the movement, and the cylinder retracts, and the conveyor indexes to the next position and the process is repeated. There were several of these benches in the rooms, and they were being used for different aspects of the assembly.
I pulled out my small camera and took a video to show you how it works. At this station the worker is assembling the barrels with the main springs into the movements. In this first video she is using a vacuum system to clean the barrels before inserting them.
media.putfile.com/Vacheron-1
In this second video, you can see how the automated table works.
media.putfile.com/Vacheron-2
More views of the assembly area.
Would I love a bench like this? You bet! Much better than working at the kitchen table! LOL! The logo in the top would be a nice touch too. Unfortunately they didn’t offer me one.
Here is some information on the balance of their “extra flat” caliber. The balance is made of 14k gold, and uses 14k gold screws on the OD. We were told that these were the smallest screws in the world! They are so small that they don’t have any kind of slot or groove in them, because it would be too easy to damage them, so they created a special tool for gripping the outside diameter of the screw head to turn the screws into the balance. If my French serves me well, the dimensions on the screw are that the screw head is 28/100th of a millimetre, and the thread diameter is 17/100th of a millimetre! Wow! A thimble full of these screws would number around 50,000!
Here a woman fits the hair spring to one of balances. Of all the places we went to, it seems that this job is done by women. They may have steadier hands than men, or maybe just more patience!
Here is VC’s small rectangular caliber that is similar to the JLC Cal. 101. This is a bit bigger than that, and our guide told us it is more reliable than the JLC is. I would think both are pretty delicate!
Here we have a movement being checked for timing and positional errors. I would love a timing machine…..but too much money.
We then went to the room where the high complications are worked on. The leader of this group is VC’s Master Watch Maker, Mr. Chrystian Francois. Here he is showing us a movement that was being worked on, and here are photos of the movement that aren’t too blurry.
One of his team at work….
There are some small machines in this area used for custom fitting parts. In the high complications, these are similar to custom made watches, since each watch is tweaked to make it work at optimum. Basically the parts end up not being completely interchangeable because of the fine tuning that needs to be done.
Very blurry photo of one of the watch we were shown – it’s a tribute to the great explorers of the past, and has some very nice enamel work on the dial. I include it because it shows the “arms” that are hidden under a portion of the dial. The following photo shows the movement better, but with the top part of the dial on.
Some unusual models here, including two from the Métiers d’Art Les Masques collection. These watches feature masks from a famous collection in Geneva, and the group of 4 watches per set includes a significant mask from 4 different continents. Not my taste, but I am sure collectors will like this sort of thing. The second photo below shows it without the actual mask in place – I like it better than with the mask!
And a close up of one….
This photo shows one of the areas where the watches are tested. The cabinet with the blue window is like a big winder….
In that room we saw some final assembly and timing being done.
I snapped a photo of a tray full of rose gold Patrimony models…..
We had to keep moving as the other group was catching up on us!
Now we were in the finishing room, where one of the girls was applying the perlage to the movement plates.
There were many stations where various finishing steps were being done….
Here a worker was screwing a small movement part to a handle that allowed him to manipulate the part on the buffing wheels. It was delicate work!
This machine dates from the 1890’s, and is still used today for certain finishing operations.
Here is a large movement model of a Cal. 1400 that is meant to show the requirements for obtaining the coveted Geneva seal. To get the seal, the finishing and assembly of the movement has to be done in the Canton of Geneva. The actual requirements for the finishing are that every single surface of each part gets finished, regardless if it is visible or not. So each plate is chamfered and those chamfers are polished, the dial side of the movement is given a perlage finish typically, the underside of each plate, even where it is screwed to something else, is finished. Even the screws head slots are polished.
One of these on the coffee table would be quite the conversation piece!
Now, having said all that, I don’t believe the methods used to achieve those finishes are set in stone. Like other houses, VC uses modern techniques so tradition is sometimes (not always) sacrificed for efficiency. Looking at the sample, there are some inside corners that would need some hand work, but in other areas they use more modern techniques. Mr. Dufour had some comments on the Geneva seal and what it means, so please see that report for more (I hope to have it done soon!)
Here an operator machines a small part – I could not get close enough to see what he was working on.
But after looking at this picture full scale, I see the writing on the fixture mentions a tourbillon, and it looks to be part of the cage assembly.
We then made our way to lunch! Along the way, I took this shot of the stairs in the building, which are designed to resemble a strand of DNA.
Here are some other shots of the lobby from above, and the flooring on the various levels that was made of glass. It was a stunning place.
Now I have to tell you that by far this was the most spectacular meal that we were served on this trip. I knew we were in for something special when we were taken to the executive dining room rather than the cafeteria!
While we waited for our other group to show up, I took some photos….this is one of another part of the building.
In addition to great food and superb wine, they had some machines on display there too!
The place settings were quite nice.
Note the VC Maltese Cross logo on the table cloth – also on the napkins…..
And the same on the silver and every single dish.
Some conversation between one of our group and the other guide before the meal started….
And some people anxiously waiting the start of the meal. We were all hungry by this time!
Our host for the lunch was Mr. Dominique Bernaz who runs VC’s museum. He welcomed us all and then the feast began.
So I took photos of the meal. Call me crazy, but I wanted to remember this meal for a long time. Here we have our first course, and in addition to the olive bread at the top of the photo, we were treated to a stunning terrine of roasted vegetables and foie gras. It was delicious!
Next course was white Icelandic cod, served with mashed fennel, a wonderful sauce, and some beans. I am not a huge fish eater, but this was great.
For dessert we had a real treat. We were served a white and dark chocolate mousse, and the most powerful brandied cherries I have ever tasted in my life. They had an incredible kick! The brandy is called Kirsch and is made from cherries. However this is not the very sweet cherry brandy you might have had before, but a very strong beverage with a subtle hint of cherries, and not at all sweet. Good thing I wasn’t driving after eating those! On the side was a serving of lavender flavoured ice cream, with a sesame crisp in it. OMG I am drooling just writing this and looking at the photos again…..
So after the main meal, they brought out some very tasty chocolates – of course sporting the VC logo. The dark version was orange flavoured…..I think I had about 4 of those.
So after what could only be described as a tremendous meal, we made our way back to the lobby and the bus. Here one of the VC management says his goodbyes before we board the bus – I can’t recall his name unfortunately, but we did have a nice conversation in the lobby before leaving. Everyone at VC was exceptionally friendly, and honestly seemed to enjoy their work more than just about any other place we visited.
And Mr. Bull and Mr. Bernaz discussing the remainder of the day.
Next stop was downtown Geneva, and the VC museum….you can see the company name on top of the building.
Once again Mr. Bull took over and gave us a tour of the pieces on display.
Now I didn’t take a ton of photos during the museum tour. The main reason for this was that the museum is not that big (certainly when compared to Patek) but also they had a special display of clock keys there that meant many of the watches were not in the display cases. I really didn’t find clock keys to be terribly fascinating, so I didn’t take too many photos. Here’s what I did photograph.
This watch case is carved from solid jade….
Jacqui admiring the items on display.
Mr. Bull explaining the finer details of……something.
![]()
img113.imageshack.us/img113/5113/v86nd8.jpg/IMG]
More fantastic enamel work on these watches.
This machine is for making guilloche.
A very few of the medals that VC has one in various horological competitions….there were a lot of these!
It should be noted that this museum is also a working place where restoration of some pieces is done by 2 watch makers who reside there. It is also sort of a boutique where watches can be seen, and where they can be purchased.
To end our day with VC, they brought out watches for us to try one and handle. I went straight for the Patrimony line.
Here is the auto version with date…..
My that does look nice on my wrist!
Now that or the manual wind, non-date version. Thinking….
That deserves a closer look!
Well none of the above for right now!
I see VC as a company that is certainly at the top with some other large makers, more so than I did before the tour. Not only do they produce a great product, but they are investing in the industry as well. No other maker mentioned this (although some may do it and aren’t saying) but VC has an apprenticeship program that they run, and the students are paid a wage and trained at the same time. We visited that department and they had 4 students enrolled at that time. Like any program of that type, it is a risk because once people are trained they can leave for another place that might pay more. Our guide admitted that this happens at VC, and when I asked about agreements that may keep people on for a set amount of time once they are trained, he explained that this was against Swiss law. He went on to say that if you are going to lose people, it’s usually the best that move on as they can earn more money somewhere else. VC knows that they will lose people and that other companies will benefit from their expense, but our guide told us that it’s their way of giving back and making sure that there are highly skilled watch makers out there to look after all the mechanical watches being made today.
VC has also recently re-introduced a service designed to let the customer decide what their watch should look like. Their “Ateliers Cabinotiers Special Order” department can produce watches that are “custom made” to the desires of the purchaser. This sort of thing was common before the Second World War, but right now VC is the only major manufacturer offering this service. This service is really three services in one. The lowest level includes allowing customers to modify existing VC watches with, for example, a different dial. The next level is using existing movements and putting them in custom designed cases with custom parts like dials. The final level is the completely custom designed watch – built from scratch in every way. With this last service the design is finalized by working with the final purchaser face to face. If the client can’t come to Geneva, VC will take the craftsmen and designers to the client for this meeting! After the design is completed, the watch must be approved for production by VC to ensure that the watch still has the “elements” of a VC watch. Then the client is given an internet site to visit where they can follow the progress of their watch as it is created, through pictures and videos. Of course as with anything specially built, you had better have very deep pockets for this sort of thing. So far this service has been well received and they have somewhere in the area of 40 orders.
So ends our trip to Vacheron Constantin. In our voting at the end of the tour, it was recognized by our group as the favourite visit of the week. For me this is true on many levels. I certainly enjoyed the day at Vacheron very much, and I learned a lot there. Of course I had a great lunch and a great guide. No complaints whatsoever, other than I can’t have a day like that every day!
I hope you enjoyed the report.
Thanks, Al
Vacheron Constantin was another full day tour like Patek was (it was actually the day before the Patek tour). It was a similar schedule in that we first visited the manufacturing shops, then had lunch, and then went to the VC museum. I don’t own a VC watch, but I do like some of their designs very much, particularly some of their plain dress watches.
VC is truly the oldest continuous operating watch company in the world. Although Blancpain has the 1735 date on their watches and uses that date a great deal in their marketing, they were nothing but a name for some time until Jean-Claude Biver revived the company. In comparison, VC has been in operation continuously since 1755. Of course in 2005 they celebrated their 250th anniversary with many celebrations and some incredible watches.
On this tour we were given a completely free hand to photograph absolutely anything and everything we wanted. The only thing they asked is that we minimize the use of our flashes, and were careful not to blind some unsuspecting watch maker who was working on something. An absolutely reasonable request and certainly I would hate to take a photo that caused someone to mess up an expensive piece!
The VC factory is an impressive building in the Plan-les-Ouates area of Geneva. It’s not far from one of the Rolex factories that I showed photos of in report #9.
The building was opened in 2005 and uses a lot of glass…..3,000 square metres of glass in fact! The building houses 250 employees in total, including those related to production and administration. As you will see in addition to glass there is a lot of wood. The building has a very modern and clean feel to it. I found a photo on-line of the building lit up at night…..very nice!
We were greeted out front on an overcast morning….
The lobby was quite nice, and they had some innovative displays. They also had some of the nicest orchids I have ever seen!
We were broken up into “technical” and “non-technical” groups, and our technical group was lead by Mr. Rudolf Bull whose title is “Expert Master Watch Maker.” I have no idea how the titles work or if there is some industry standard for this or if it’s just a corporate title. In any case, this man knew his stuff! He had an incredible sense of humour, and was the most honest and open guide we had on any of our major factory tours. There was literally no question about the process or business that he would not answer, even if it was not necessarily favourable to VC. I appreciated his knowledge, candor, and humour immensely. Here we are donning our gowns and boots, and getting ready to enter the shops. Mr. Bull is on the right of the photo with the white beard.
We first went to an assembly area….the building was very nice inside, and despite it being a dreary day the lighting was very good for the people assembling watches.
VC currently makes about 50% of the movements they use. They are ramping up so that in the next 2-3 years, 80% will be “in-house” and their goal is to be 100% in-house eventually. Here is some documentation related to the Geneva seals placed on VC’s watch movements. I have some photos of a model movement that shows some of the details needed for this certification later in the report.
We then studied some of the movements that are assembled here.
This is a Cal. 1003 in a skeletonized version. I’m not a huge fan of skeleton movements in general, but the work on this one was outstanding! My photos certainly do not do it justice!
Here is a video of the 1003 movement ticking as seen through a microscope!
media.putfile.com/Vacheron-skeleton-movement
Here is an auto movement skeletonzied, a model 1120. Makes me seriously want to consider a skeleton watch!
View of a movement being worked on….
Now here is something that surprised me a bit. According to the numbers I was given, VC makes somewhere around 18,000 mechanical watches per year, so when compared to many other companies, it’s pretty low volume for a big house. I was surprised to find a certain level of automation here! These are several photos of a watch making bench that is semi-automated. Movements are in small trays that are set on conveyor belts that are integrated into the bench. As the watch maker sits at the bench, a movement comes along to the working position, and is raised to the proper working height on a cylinder. The worker places the part into the movement, and the cylinder retracts, and the conveyor indexes to the next position and the process is repeated. There were several of these benches in the rooms, and they were being used for different aspects of the assembly.
I pulled out my small camera and took a video to show you how it works. At this station the worker is assembling the barrels with the main springs into the movements. In this first video she is using a vacuum system to clean the barrels before inserting them.
media.putfile.com/Vacheron-1
In this second video, you can see how the automated table works.
media.putfile.com/Vacheron-2
More views of the assembly area.
Would I love a bench like this? You bet! Much better than working at the kitchen table! LOL! The logo in the top would be a nice touch too. Unfortunately they didn’t offer me one.
Here is some information on the balance of their “extra flat” caliber. The balance is made of 14k gold, and uses 14k gold screws on the OD. We were told that these were the smallest screws in the world! They are so small that they don’t have any kind of slot or groove in them, because it would be too easy to damage them, so they created a special tool for gripping the outside diameter of the screw head to turn the screws into the balance. If my French serves me well, the dimensions on the screw are that the screw head is 28/100th of a millimetre, and the thread diameter is 17/100th of a millimetre! Wow! A thimble full of these screws would number around 50,000!
Here a woman fits the hair spring to one of balances. Of all the places we went to, it seems that this job is done by women. They may have steadier hands than men, or maybe just more patience!
Here is VC’s small rectangular caliber that is similar to the JLC Cal. 101. This is a bit bigger than that, and our guide told us it is more reliable than the JLC is. I would think both are pretty delicate!
Here we have a movement being checked for timing and positional errors. I would love a timing machine…..but too much money.
We then went to the room where the high complications are worked on. The leader of this group is VC’s Master Watch Maker, Mr. Chrystian Francois. Here he is showing us a movement that was being worked on, and here are photos of the movement that aren’t too blurry.
One of his team at work….
There are some small machines in this area used for custom fitting parts. In the high complications, these are similar to custom made watches, since each watch is tweaked to make it work at optimum. Basically the parts end up not being completely interchangeable because of the fine tuning that needs to be done.
Very blurry photo of one of the watch we were shown – it’s a tribute to the great explorers of the past, and has some very nice enamel work on the dial. I include it because it shows the “arms” that are hidden under a portion of the dial. The following photo shows the movement better, but with the top part of the dial on.
Some unusual models here, including two from the Métiers d’Art Les Masques collection. These watches feature masks from a famous collection in Geneva, and the group of 4 watches per set includes a significant mask from 4 different continents. Not my taste, but I am sure collectors will like this sort of thing. The second photo below shows it without the actual mask in place – I like it better than with the mask!
And a close up of one….
This photo shows one of the areas where the watches are tested. The cabinet with the blue window is like a big winder….
In that room we saw some final assembly and timing being done.
I snapped a photo of a tray full of rose gold Patrimony models…..
We had to keep moving as the other group was catching up on us!
Now we were in the finishing room, where one of the girls was applying the perlage to the movement plates.
There were many stations where various finishing steps were being done….
Here a worker was screwing a small movement part to a handle that allowed him to manipulate the part on the buffing wheels. It was delicate work!
This machine dates from the 1890’s, and is still used today for certain finishing operations.
Here is a large movement model of a Cal. 1400 that is meant to show the requirements for obtaining the coveted Geneva seal. To get the seal, the finishing and assembly of the movement has to be done in the Canton of Geneva. The actual requirements for the finishing are that every single surface of each part gets finished, regardless if it is visible or not. So each plate is chamfered and those chamfers are polished, the dial side of the movement is given a perlage finish typically, the underside of each plate, even where it is screwed to something else, is finished. Even the screws head slots are polished.
One of these on the coffee table would be quite the conversation piece!
Now, having said all that, I don’t believe the methods used to achieve those finishes are set in stone. Like other houses, VC uses modern techniques so tradition is sometimes (not always) sacrificed for efficiency. Looking at the sample, there are some inside corners that would need some hand work, but in other areas they use more modern techniques. Mr. Dufour had some comments on the Geneva seal and what it means, so please see that report for more (I hope to have it done soon!)
Here an operator machines a small part – I could not get close enough to see what he was working on.
But after looking at this picture full scale, I see the writing on the fixture mentions a tourbillon, and it looks to be part of the cage assembly.
We then made our way to lunch! Along the way, I took this shot of the stairs in the building, which are designed to resemble a strand of DNA.
Here are some other shots of the lobby from above, and the flooring on the various levels that was made of glass. It was a stunning place.
Now I have to tell you that by far this was the most spectacular meal that we were served on this trip. I knew we were in for something special when we were taken to the executive dining room rather than the cafeteria!
While we waited for our other group to show up, I took some photos….this is one of another part of the building.
In addition to great food and superb wine, they had some machines on display there too!
The place settings were quite nice.
Note the VC Maltese Cross logo on the table cloth – also on the napkins…..
And the same on the silver and every single dish.
Some conversation between one of our group and the other guide before the meal started….
And some people anxiously waiting the start of the meal. We were all hungry by this time!
Our host for the lunch was Mr. Dominique Bernaz who runs VC’s museum. He welcomed us all and then the feast began.
So I took photos of the meal. Call me crazy, but I wanted to remember this meal for a long time. Here we have our first course, and in addition to the olive bread at the top of the photo, we were treated to a stunning terrine of roasted vegetables and foie gras. It was delicious!
Next course was white Icelandic cod, served with mashed fennel, a wonderful sauce, and some beans. I am not a huge fish eater, but this was great.
For dessert we had a real treat. We were served a white and dark chocolate mousse, and the most powerful brandied cherries I have ever tasted in my life. They had an incredible kick! The brandy is called Kirsch and is made from cherries. However this is not the very sweet cherry brandy you might have had before, but a very strong beverage with a subtle hint of cherries, and not at all sweet. Good thing I wasn’t driving after eating those! On the side was a serving of lavender flavoured ice cream, with a sesame crisp in it. OMG I am drooling just writing this and looking at the photos again…..
So after the main meal, they brought out some very tasty chocolates – of course sporting the VC logo. The dark version was orange flavoured…..I think I had about 4 of those.
So after what could only be described as a tremendous meal, we made our way back to the lobby and the bus. Here one of the VC management says his goodbyes before we board the bus – I can’t recall his name unfortunately, but we did have a nice conversation in the lobby before leaving. Everyone at VC was exceptionally friendly, and honestly seemed to enjoy their work more than just about any other place we visited.
And Mr. Bull and Mr. Bernaz discussing the remainder of the day.
Next stop was downtown Geneva, and the VC museum….you can see the company name on top of the building.
Once again Mr. Bull took over and gave us a tour of the pieces on display.
Now I didn’t take a ton of photos during the museum tour. The main reason for this was that the museum is not that big (certainly when compared to Patek) but also they had a special display of clock keys there that meant many of the watches were not in the display cases. I really didn’t find clock keys to be terribly fascinating, so I didn’t take too many photos. Here’s what I did photograph.
This watch case is carved from solid jade….
Jacqui admiring the items on display.
Mr. Bull explaining the finer details of……something.
More fantastic enamel work on these watches.
This machine is for making guilloche.
A very few of the medals that VC has one in various horological competitions….there were a lot of these!
It should be noted that this museum is also a working place where restoration of some pieces is done by 2 watch makers who reside there. It is also sort of a boutique where watches can be seen, and where they can be purchased.
To end our day with VC, they brought out watches for us to try one and handle. I went straight for the Patrimony line.
Here is the auto version with date…..
My that does look nice on my wrist!
Now that or the manual wind, non-date version. Thinking….
That deserves a closer look!
Well none of the above for right now!
I see VC as a company that is certainly at the top with some other large makers, more so than I did before the tour. Not only do they produce a great product, but they are investing in the industry as well. No other maker mentioned this (although some may do it and aren’t saying) but VC has an apprenticeship program that they run, and the students are paid a wage and trained at the same time. We visited that department and they had 4 students enrolled at that time. Like any program of that type, it is a risk because once people are trained they can leave for another place that might pay more. Our guide admitted that this happens at VC, and when I asked about agreements that may keep people on for a set amount of time once they are trained, he explained that this was against Swiss law. He went on to say that if you are going to lose people, it’s usually the best that move on as they can earn more money somewhere else. VC knows that they will lose people and that other companies will benefit from their expense, but our guide told us that it’s their way of giving back and making sure that there are highly skilled watch makers out there to look after all the mechanical watches being made today.
VC has also recently re-introduced a service designed to let the customer decide what their watch should look like. Their “Ateliers Cabinotiers Special Order” department can produce watches that are “custom made” to the desires of the purchaser. This sort of thing was common before the Second World War, but right now VC is the only major manufacturer offering this service. This service is really three services in one. The lowest level includes allowing customers to modify existing VC watches with, for example, a different dial. The next level is using existing movements and putting them in custom designed cases with custom parts like dials. The final level is the completely custom designed watch – built from scratch in every way. With this last service the design is finalized by working with the final purchaser face to face. If the client can’t come to Geneva, VC will take the craftsmen and designers to the client for this meeting! After the design is completed, the watch must be approved for production by VC to ensure that the watch still has the “elements” of a VC watch. Then the client is given an internet site to visit where they can follow the progress of their watch as it is created, through pictures and videos. Of course as with anything specially built, you had better have very deep pockets for this sort of thing. So far this service has been well received and they have somewhere in the area of 40 orders.
So ends our trip to Vacheron Constantin. In our voting at the end of the tour, it was recognized by our group as the favourite visit of the week. For me this is true on many levels. I certainly enjoyed the day at Vacheron very much, and I learned a lot there. Of course I had a great lunch and a great guide. No complaints whatsoever, other than I can’t have a day like that every day!
I hope you enjoyed the report.
Thanks, Al
