Has Vacheron Constantin Outgrown Quiet Elegance?

At a wedding last month, I spotted an older gentleman wearing a vintage Vacheron Constantin. Even from across the room, the proportions gave it away. Few maisons handle the space and balance of a dress watch quite like Vacheron Constantin. The patinaed dial, slender baton markers, and elegant case didn’t shout, but they didn’t need to. I didn’t have to see the logo to know what it was, or that the wearer was a man of quiet taste, the kind who enjoys standing apart without trying.

That has long been Vacheron Constantin’s greatest strength. Since Louis Ferla joined in 2016 and rose to CEO in 2017, the brand’s strategy has been clear and focused: craft captivating dress and sports watches within its three flagship collections—Patrimony, Traditionnelle, and Overseas—while drawing deeply from its vast archives and immense expertise to deliver jaw-dropping pieces under Les Cabinotiers and Historiques. This streamlined approach has paid off handsomely, propelling Vacheron Constantin into the coveted billion-dollar-revenue club of Swiss watch brands.

Yet, the brand’s most defining signature remains its classic gentleman’s watch—the very kind I spotted on that wedding guest. Case in point: Vintage Vacheron Constantin timepieces consistently rank among the most sought-after on the secondary market, prized for their timeless elegance and craftsmanship.

Here’s where the needle drops.

During Ferla’s tenure, I observed a fascinating evolution: he nudged collectors to rethink the boundaries of the traditional dress watch. He seemed to be asking, how daring and imaginative can a classic watch truly become? Now, with Ferla at the helm of Cartier, Richemont group’s crown jewel, his trusted colleague Laurent Perves has stepped in to steer Vacheron Constantin forward. I expect nothing less than bold moves from the maison under Perves’ leadership. Mark my words.

A Quick Recap

Ferla led Vacheron Constantin from being the 14^th highest-grossing Swiss watch brand in 2019 to securing a consistent position among the top eight over the past three years. Now, the baton passes to Laurent Perves, whose first major task since his appointment on January 1, 2025, is to orchestrate a 270th-anniversary celebration befitting of the Maison.

A seasoned insider who has spent over a decade in the watch industry, Perves has held key leadership roles at Vacheron since 2016, and most recently served as its Chief Commercial Officer and Ferla’s trusted second-in-command. Perves is well placed to carry forward the long-term vision they shaped together.

Can a circular dress watch dial be composed of two distinct semicircles? And can its dial feature openworked, irregular shapes?

If you read between the lines of the scintillating novelties that Vacheron Constantin unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2025, one thing becomes clear: this trendsetting maison is boldly challenging our preconceptions of what a classic dress watch can be.

The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar

One of this Vacheron Constantin outing’s most desirous creations is the 127-piece limited-edition Traditionnelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. Classic Vacheron Constantin design codes like the dauphine hands, chemin de fer minutes track, and fluted and stepped case architecture beautifully complement its 950 platinum case. Personally, the cherry on top is the Maltese cross-inspired hand-guilloché geometric motif of its dial, which decorates almost all of this year’s novelties.

However, what makes this intricate quantième perpétuel a truly remarkable feat of engineering is its automatic aliber 2162 QP/270, which is based off the maison’s 250^th anniversary Saint-Gervais’s caliber 2250 from 2005 that combines a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar.

While the manual-winding caliber 2250 was 8.6mm thick, the new self-winding caliber 2162 QP/270 is only 6.55mm.

The Vacheron Constantin Platinum Traditionnelle Openface Limited Editions

If you liked the bold artistic direction that Vacheron Constantin took with 2023’s Traditionnelle Tourbillon Retrograde Date Openface, you’ll fall head over heels for the Vacheron Constantin Platinum Traditionnelle Openface Limited Editions.

This spellbinding hand-guilloché pattern of the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar’s dial also adorns these three 370-piece 41mm limited editions in 950 platinum, which has had portions of their dials openworked so as to shed light on their complicated movements.

For example, the lower half of the Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Retrograde Date Openface’s dial has been openworked. Everything below its semicircular date display is see-through, including its month and day sub-dials at 3 and 9 o’clock, so that we can admire the intricate caliber 2460 QPR31/270 movement’s system of cams and wheels, which only requires adjustment once every 122 years.

The Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Openface is openworked in similar fashion, sans the retrograde date. It’s driven by the caliber 2460 QCL/270, which was the brand’s first entirely in-house designed and developed self-winding calendar movement.

If you’d like to explore the inner workings of Vacheron Constantin’s retrograde date, the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Retrograde Date Openface invites us to observe the snail-shaped cam of the caliber 2162 R31/270 that snaps back to ‘1’ on the first day of the month. Below this date display is the iconic Vacheron Constantin tourbillon, which bears the maison’s Maltese cross and a blued screw that doubles up as a small seconds indicator.

New Traditionnelle and Patrimony Limited Editions

On its 270^th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin has introduced eight subtly elegant timepieces to its Traditionnelle and Patrimony collections.

Inspired by 18th-century haute horlogerie, the maison’s Traditionnelle watches are beloved for their classic aesthetics, such as fluted casebacks, stepped lugs, railway minutes tracks, Dauphine hands and baton-style indices. Paying tribute to 1950s watchmaking, Patrimony watches are synonymous with gently domed dials, curved applied markers, and pearl minutes tracks.

A subtly elegant dress watch that shunts all the bells and whistles for a clean aesthetic, the 38mm Traditionnelle Manual-Winding is limited to 370 pieces in 950 platinum and 370 pieces in 18K 5N pink gold. Its silver-toned dial has been hand-finished with the same engine turning as the above novelties. Its caliber 4400 AS/270 packs 65 hours of power reserve and drives a small seconds at 6 o’clock that has its own railway track.

Decorated with 81 diamonds, the 36mm Traditionnelle Moon Phase in pink gold is limited to 270 examples and is powered by the caliber 1410 AS/270. Its engine-turned mother-of-pearl dial is embellished with a moonphase, a small seconds subdial, and a 38-hour power-reserve display.

Ladies seeking a time-only watch might take to the 33mm Traditionnelle Manual-Winding. This 270-piece limited edition’s pink gold case is set with 54 diamonds.

Limited to 270 examples in white gold and another 270 in pink gold, the 42.5mm Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date features its namesake moonphase complication in its lower hemisphere, while its retrograde date occupies the upper hemisphere of its guilloche dial.

The 40mm Patrimony Self-Winding is a less complicated version of the Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date, featuring only a date window at 6 o’clock and time. Limited to two 370-piece limited editions in pink gold or white gold, the intricate hand finishing and trademark Vacheron Constantin aesthetics of this slim timepiece make it an inconspicuous yet sophisticated accessory.

Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication

And to follow Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers The Berkley Grand Complication, a pocket watch that became the world’s most complicated watch ever when it was released at Watches and Wonders 2024, Perves just unveiled a split-seconds chronograph that also charts the movement of the stars and the sun.

One of the most captivating showstoppers of this year’s fair, the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication is the most complex wristwatch ever created, boasting an extraordinary 41 complications. Unlike other extremely complicated timepieces that prioritize sheer technicality, the Solaria is a masterclass in purposeful complexity, particularly in its astronomical focus.

Beyond traditional complications like a minute repeater with Westminster chimes, a perpetual calendar, a split-seconds chronograph and a tourbillon, the Solaria meticulously charts the Sun’s apparent movement across the sky, detailing its position, height, culmination and declination. The Solaria also tells mean solar time, apparent solar time, and sidereal time.

Its groundbreaking split-seconds chronograph even integrates with a celestial chart, enabling the wearer to calculate when a specific star or constellation will appear—an unprecedented feat in horology. Remarkably, despite its vast functionality, the 45mm watch remains elegantly composed, with a dial design that prioritizes clarity and aesthetic harmony, ensuring its astronomical intricacies are as visually striking as they are mechanically profound.

At the heart of this horological marvel is the caliber 3655, a movement crafted single-handedly over eight years under the hand of master watchmaker Jean-Marie Bouquin. Furthermore, its double-sided ultra-thin astronomical module allows for easy servicing without dismantling the dial.

Les Cabinotiers Tribute to the Tour de l’Ile

Inspired by Geneva’s historic Tour de l’Île, these three single-piece editions embody métiers d’art through miniature enameling, guilloché and engraving. Tour de l’Île translates to “Tower on the Island”, and this 13^th-century fortress was where Vacheron Constantin set up workshops and displayed its marquee in the mid-19^th century.

The tower has come to symbolize Vacheron Constantin’s intertwined history with the city of Geneva, which is why three intricately handmade pièce uniques were dedicated to its honor.

Encased in refined 40mm proportions, these elegant timepieces focus on the purity of hours and minutes while showcasing exceptional craftsmanship.

The Les Cabinotiers workshop continues to champion Vacheron Constantin’s spirit of exclusivity and painstaking intricacy, creating unique timepieces that bridge history and traditional artistry.

From the intricately painted Grand Feu enamel dial inspired by 18th-century lithographs to the precision of guilloché line drawings and the sculptural depth of bas-relief engraving, every detail reflects a pursuit of excellence.

Our Predictions

Recent retrograde displays and unconventional skeletonization reveal Vacheron Constantin’s growing confidence in challenging long-held notions of what a “classic” watch should be. In fact, inventive yet purposeful design is fast becoming a hallmark of the maison’s contemporary identity.

We expect Vacheron Constantin to keep pushing the boundaries, and in doing so, shape broader industry trends. Artistic complexity is no longer merely decorative; it now plays a central role in how complications are both displayed and experienced.

That said, the brand will likely continue to honor its core values: mechanical purity, hand-wound calibers, and discreet yet sophisticated complications. Extraordinary creations like the Solaria Ultra Grand Complication and unique Tour de l’Île timepieces stand as testaments to Vacheron Constantin’s commitment to ultra-high horology, something it is uniquely positioned to champion thanks to its deep archives and resources.

In this new chapter, expect complications to carry greater narrative weight—less ornate for ornament’s sake; more story and symbolism through craft.