Vacheron Constantin’s Chagall Collection Celebrates the Palais Garnier

Vacheron Constantin’s Chagall Collection Celebrates the Palais Garnier

Adrienne Faurote
By Adrienne Faurote November 7, 2012

Palais Garnier, the iconic opera house of Paris, is a symbol of opulence thanks to the elaborate artwork decorating its ceiling, where chandeliers sparkle amidst operatic scenes. The beloved fresco, completed in 1964 by Marc Chagall, the famous Jewish Russian-French artist, is being celebrated by luxury watchmakers Vacheron Constantin. The company has released an 11-piece Chagall et L’Opera de Paris Tribute collection, paying tribute to both the artist and his work of art, which features scenes from operas by the world’s leading composers. The haute horlogerie watch features a stunning reproduction of the Palais Garnier fresco.

This new timepiece was inspired by a classic watch called the Chagall et L’Opera de Paris – Tribute to the Great Composers. The original watch had been kept in Vacheron Constantin’s private collection before being brought out to inspire this new 11-piece collection. Each of the 11 watches will feature one of the composers that Chagall portrayed in his famed painting.

Of the group, one of our favorites is the Tribute to 4 Composers from the Chagall et L’Opera de Paris, the 5th model of the 11-piece collection.  The operatic scenes depicted on the 40mm-diameter enamel dial, surrounded by a yellow gold case, are Georges Bizet, Ludwig van Beethoven, Giuseppe Verdi and Christoph Willibald von Gluck.  The watch boasts of a self-winding Calibre 2460 movement that is also visible through the case back of sapphire glass; furthermore the case back is covered with a moveable gold cover which contains engravings of the four composers’ names. A beautiful and colorful watch, this is one timepiece that will be timeless and an heirloom collector’s item for perhaps centuries to come.

Source courtesy BornRich