Unless you’re a diehard watch enthusiast, you may have missed that 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the Patrimony line, Vacheron Constantin’s love letter to 1950s horology.
But we should back up for a moment. There’s something to be said about Vacheron more broadly, which is that despite its place in the horological “Holy Trinity” alongside Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, it sometimes feels as if this most historic maison gets shuffled to the side in the minds of collectors. Of course, sales figures should easily dispel the notion that folks aren’t buying their fair share of what Vacheron is selling: In 2023, the Swiss maison did 1.097 billion CHF in turnover with a production of 35,000 timepieces. Still, perhaps because the model 222 luxury sports watch doesn’t quite have the same zeitgeisty ubiquity as the Royal Oak or Nautilus, it can feel like Vacheron’s name doesn’t attract the same number of hashtags on Instagram.
This is, of course, a shame, especially given that the Genevan firm has been producing timepieces since 1755 — roughly two decades before the Boston Tea Party took place. In the mid-20th century especially, Vacheron designed some of the most beautiful time-only dress watches in the world, many of which can be had on the secondary market for roughly the cost of a new Tudor chronograph, and certainly for less than the cost of a new Submariner. Considering the workmanship of the dials and movements, this fact alone is vaguely unsettling, as if one has stumbled upon a piece of information the Swiss government would prefer we didn’t know.
But forget value-laden vintage buys for a moment. What of new watches — or, more precisely, new watches informed by old watches? Say what you will about the “vintage reissue” trend — it’s still going strong, and brands large and small are basing entries in new collections upon pieces from their back catalogs. Vacheron, for one, has a wide-ranging oeuvre that spans sportier, distinctly modern sports watches (Overseas) as well as nearly one-for-one evolutions of classic references (Historiques). The Patrimony collection, which launched in 2004, is largely a tribute to 1950s watchmaking, and this means slimness and elegance are at the fore. However, the collection doesn’t limit itself to one-for-one recreations by any means, as the latest Patrimony entry amply proves.
The World’s Best Perpetual Calendar Watches
The pinnacle of mechanical sophistication, these 11 miniature wrist computers barely need manual adjustmentFeast your eyes on the Patrimony Self-Winding ref. 85180/000J-H069, a 40mm yellow-gold dress watch with an automatic movement designed in collaboration with French designer Ora Ïto. The ‘50s cues are certainly here in spades: The 18K 3N yellow gold housing is ultra-slim at just 8.5mm tall and features beautifully downward-sloping lugs; a small, signed crown; and a flat sapphire crystal that recalls vintage acrylic types. The dial, however, is a work of artistic cohesion between 1950s inspiration and 1970s artistry: Utilizing Ïto’s “simplexity” concept — that of proposing a simple solution to a complex problem — it features gold tone-on-tone coloring and a magnificent pattern of concentric circles interrupted by applied, circular minute indices and applied, curved baton as well as dart indices, also in gold.
Inspired by Baily’s beads — arcs of light that appear during solar eclipses — these concentric rings are joined by subtly curving hands that follow the curvature of the dial, which is executed with stamping accurate to the nearest micron. Above 6 o’clock is a framed date window with burgundy typography that subtly matches the watch’s strap, a purplish calfskin affair with a yellow gold ardillon buckle. (This strap itself is unlike anything I can recall, with padded, rectangular sections resembling links set along its length. I could see this becoming the basis for an entire strap collection, frankly.)
This being a Vacheron Constantin creation, the Calibre 2450 Q6/3 movement ticking away within features beautiful workmanship, with circular graining on the mainplate, Côte de Genève on the bridges, and an openworked, gold oscillating weight with a Maltese cross pattern. Measuring just 3.6mm thick and beating at 4 Hz, it possesses hacking ability for precise time-setting as well as a power reserve of 40 hours.
Limited to just 100 pieces and priced at $35,500, the Patrimony Self-Winding ref. 85180/000J-H069 is a distillation of what Vacheron does best — namely, achieving a fine balance of vintage inspiration with modern proportions and materials. My chief gripe, if I have to name one, isn’t with the date window that will inevitably bother certain purists, but rather with the size: Much of the brand’s modern dress-watch output is 40 or 40+mm in diameter, which tracks with oversized early-2000s watchmaking, but is now becoming outdated as tastes (finally, thank the gods!) move back to smaller pieces. The ref. 85180/000J-H069 at, say, 37mm? Now that would be dangerous for my wallet, indeed.
Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Self-Winding ref. 85180/000J-H069
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Vacheron Constantin Calibre 2450 Q6/3 automatic
Water Resistance: 30m
(limited edition of 100 pieces)
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.