Continuing its annual tradition, Vacheron Constantin (VC) reveals the year’s Les Cabinotiers collection of one-of-a-kind watches that are both technically complex and decorated by skilled artisans.

The line-up includes two distinct tourbillon offerings, Le Temps Divin Ode to the Four Guardians featuring marquetry dials inspired by mythical animals of East Asia, and Le Temps Divin Armillary Tourbillon Greek Mythology, a pair of double-axis tourbillons featuring hand-engraved decor.

“Divine time”

Known for its pursuit of traditional artisanal techniques like enamelling, wood marquetry, and engraving, the Geneva watchmaker integrates such decorative techniques into its Metiers d’Art and Les Cabinotiers timepieces, which are as much works of art as they are timekeepers.

This year’s collection is titled Le Temps Divin, or “Divine Time”. Though united by a tourbillon regulator, the new models are each very different, both in the thematic inspirations as well as the decorative and technical execution. 

Le Temps Divin refers to the mythological concepts of time from different cultural perspectives. The quartet of “Ode to the Four Guardians” tourbillons is inspired by four mythological creatures of East Asian culture, each representing one season. The Armillary Tourbillon pair, on the other hand, focuses on the ancient Greek god of time, the titan Chronos.

The fabled creatures of the East

Ode to the Four Guardians draws inspiration from the four seasons and their corresponding mythical creatures – dragon, tiger, tortoise, and bird. Each creature is depicted in wood marquetry on a dial that has nothing but an aperture for the tourbillon.

The four unique pieces are each named after a mythical creature: Azure Dragon, symbol of strength for the spring; Vermilion Bird, symbol of luck and prosperity for the summer; White Tiger, symbol of courage for the autumn; Black Tortoise, symbol of wisdom and longevity for the winter.

Artisan dials

While each of these watches is equipped with a tourbillon calibre, it’s really all about the dial. Such graphically-intensive dials are often hand-painted, in either fired enamel or acrylic, but here they are rendered with an artisanal technique known as marquetry. 

Marquetry is a wood-based craft, which is rather unusual in watchmaking. In order to create the desired image or motif, the artisan only uses small pieces of different kinds and shades of wood, which are cut, formed and assembled by hand.

A challenge unique to marquetry when compared to engraving or enamelling is the fact that wood is an imperfect, biological material that requires additional care in treatment and technique. The thin sheets of wood veneer, for instance, need to be stored at a fixed temperature and humidity in order to maintain their state. 

One dial requires ten to 12 different types of wood in order to create the desired motif. Sycamore, padauk, hornbeam, tulip tree, blue myrtle, eucalyptus, maple, burl wood, oak and walnut are among the selected wood types. 

Some pieces of wood are applied in their natural state, while others were lightly tinted or heated in order to obtain a specific shade. Each dial averages about 200 separate pieces of wood, every piece not much thicker than 0.4 mm. Needless to say all these manually-performed operations are infinitely delicate and require a very talented hand. 

The result is nothing short of exquisite; each dial has sharp lines, but the inherent softness of the wood gives it a natural, warm feel. When advantageous, the fibrous nature of the material is put to good use, for example in the tiger’s textured fur. 

A fitting movement

Behind the marquetry dial is one of VC’s most recent tourbillon movements. The self-winding cal. 2160 beats at 2.5 Hz and runs for 80 hours on a single large barrel.

The tourbillon regulator is visible through a cutout in the dial. Its cage is shaped after the Maltese cross, VC’s famous logo and a subtle leitmotif in its movements. Within the cage is a free-sprung balance with an interesting aerodynamic design, featuring both a screwed rim and regulating weights.

The most modern trait of the cal. 2160 is its peripheral winding system. Because of the peripheral winding, the movement is exceptionally thin, at just 5.65 mm.

Comprised of a gold-weighted ring around the edge of the movement, the system relies on a Magic Lever-style winding mechanism that is both simple and effective. The combination of peripheral winding and tourbillon is rare, making cal. 2160 a fitting choice for the artisanal dials.

The finishing on the movement is very well done in typical VC fashion, with Côtes de Genève covering neatly all the upper bridges. Not unimportant is also the fact that the movement bears the coveted Poinçon de Geneve.

The 18k yellow gold case has simple but elegant lines, which are meant to direct the eye towards the marquetry dials. The 42 mm diameter is slightly large, but reasonable given the spare needed for the dial marquetry.

The God of time

The pair of Les Cabinotiers tourbillons steer towards Ancient Greece, calling to mind vintage VC pocket watches decorated with Greek-themed enamel. More complex technically, the Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon Greek Mythology are also decorated in a very different manner from the Asia-themed quartet.

The pair are equipped with the cal. 1990 featuring a multi-axis tourbillon, with the decoration focused on engraving and metalwork, rather than dial art.

Dating to the 1940s, the Vacheron Constantin pocket watch ref. 111470 with Greek mythological motifs

The first watch, Ode to Chronos, is cased in yellow gold and pays homage to the titan Chronos, the personification of time in Greek myth.

Depicted in classical style as an Olympian figure, the deity is engraved in bas-relief on the case band. Relief engraving of this type is rarely executed on cases, with artisans usually preferring the easier task of working on the dial. 

The bezel and lugs carry a hand engraved geometrical pattern inspired by traditional Greek friezes. The extensive hand engraving of the case took approximately 290 work hours.

Presented in white gold and blue, Tribute to Infinite Time has its case flanks engraved with patterns inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Done with the taille de joue method, the engraving adds depth to the surface of the case. The technique requires tilting the chisel during the engraving process in order to achieve narrower burrows in the square pattern. 

While covering a round surface with engraved rectangular shapes is undoubtedly challenging, the complexity of Tribute to Infinite Time case is less than Ode to Chronos. The engraving of the former’s case took 120 work hours, less than half of the time require for “Ode to Chronos”. 

Both watches share the same large 45 mm-diameter case, which is also a massive 20.1 mm high, in part to accommodate the large tourbillon. But since the case is essentially a case for engraving, the bulky dimensions are pardonable.

Armillary tourbillon

Both unique pieces feature the same cal. 1990, albeit with slightly different finishes. “Ode to Chronos” features with a black-finished cal. 1990 which features a fine Clous de Paris engine-cut hobnail pattern. “Tribute to Infinite Time” on the other hand, has a blue PVD coating an original engine-cut pattern — angular segments with rounded bases, which continue in a way the case engravings.

The cal. 1990 borrows from the exceptionally complicated movement found in the Les Cabinotiers Reference 57260 from 2015 (some of which are found in the recent “Berkeley ” grand complication pocket watch).

The movement is most notable for the double retrograde time display and the two-axis tourbillon. In both models the movement also serves as the dial, which results in a incongruous aesthetic impression given the classical Greek decoration.

The retrograde sectors only take up half of the watch face space, from what is traditionally 12 to 6 o’clock. The retrograde system is open worked, with hollow snail cams, feelers and slender springs being fully visible for the onlooker. 

A patented system links and synchronises the retrograde minutes and hours. This is important since such a system can suffer from unavoidable play at times, which might cause the hour hand to jump and index a while after the minute hand, leading to erroneous time readings. 

The bi-axial tourbillon is placed at nine o’clock and takes up half of the movement diameter. The two interlocking cages are made of aluminium for lightness and both turn at the same rate of one revolution per minute. The inner cage rotates co-axial with the balance wheel, while the outer cage rotates on an axis perpendicular to it. This theoretically assures better gravity compensation across more usual wearing positions.

The free-sprung balance beats at 2.5 Hz and features a rare spherical hairspring. Spherical hairspring are considered among the best theoretical spring models, since they are inherently more isochronous than flat springs and don’t require abrupt end curves like straight cylindrical hairsprings do. 

Notably, the cal. 1990 has a silicon escapement, a highly unusual feature by VC standards; it is possibly the only current VC calibre with those parts in silicon. But like majority of VC movements, the cal. 1990 bears the Poincon de Geneve.

Key facts and price

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Tourbillon Ode to the Four Guardians
Ref. 6040C/000G-153C (Azure Dragon)
Ref. 6040C/000G-157C  (Black Tortoise)
Ref. 6040C/000R-152C (Vermillion Bird)
Ref. 6040C/000R-155C (White Tiger)

Diameter: 42 mm
Height: 11.4 mm
Material: 18K Pink gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. 2160
Functions: Hours, minutes, tourbillon
Frequency: 18,000 beats per hour (2.5 Hz)
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: 80 hours

Strap: Brown alligator with folding clasp

Limited edition: Each is a unique piece
Availability: At Vacheron Constantin boutiques
Price: Upon request

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon Greek Mythology
Ref. 9890C/000R-202C (Ode to Chronos)
Ref. 9890C/000G-151C (Tribute to infinite time)

Diameter: 45 mm
Height: 20.1 mm
Material: Yellow or white gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. 1990
Functions: Retrograde hours, minutes, bi-axial tourbillon
Frequency: 18,000 beats per hour (2.5 Hz)
Winding: Manual
Power reserve: 60 hours

Strap: Black or dark blue alligator with folding clasp

Limited edition: Each is a unique piece
Availability: At Vacheron Constantin boutiques
Price: Upon request

For more, visit Vacheron-constantin.com.