Новинка - Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar

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Мануфактура представила на женевской SIHH-2018 свою новинку от Atelier Cabinotier- минутный репетир с вечником на основе сверхтонкого калибра 1731
Всего было сделано две экземпляра - с синим и коричневым циферами














Quick Take

In 2013, Vacheron Constantin released a minute repeater wristwatch with what, at the time, was the thinnest hand-wound repeating movement in the world. Though it's no longer a world's record holder, the caliber 1731 is still a movement of great elegance and very traditionally executed design and finish – at only 3.90mm thick, it's just slightly thicker than Bulgari's caliber BVL 362, which is 3.12mm thick. On the caliber 1731's side, however, is a slightly longer power reserve, at 65 hours vs. 42 for the BVL 362, and the additional available energy offers the possibility of adding an additional complication. You wouldn't want to do anything too crazy – a triple axis tourbillon, for instance, would probably be pushing your luck, to say nothing of being a kind of silly thing to add to an ultra-thin repeater movement – but a perpetual calendar would be the bee's knees, as they say, offering the ability to make a very flat watch that's also delightfully complex (and which is also two thirds of the way to fulfilling the traditional definition of a grand complication, which ain't too shabby either).
This is what Vacheron Constantin's done for the Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar. Now, most of us will not ever see one of these unless we're very, very lucky but they're an interesting statement from Vacheron, which after the end of World War II relied generally on movements provided by Jaeger-LeCoultre but which in more recent decades, has re-established the incontrovertable credentials it enjoyed as a maker of complicated watches before war broke out in 1939. The reason for this is that the watch is a unique piece – well, I should say, two unique pieces, as one will be made in white gold and one in pink gold. Both will use the same movement, of which, at least for now, only two will be made: the caliber 1731 QP, which, while not being billed as a record-holder or breaker per se, is still a very thin minute repeating perpetual calendar, at just 32.80mm x 5.70mm overall.

Initial Thoughts

Minute repeater perpetual calendars are relatively rare complications – Patek Philippe makes them (the references 5347P, 5208R, and 5207G, for example) but between the inherent fussiness of a traditional perpetual calendar mechanism, and the need for a repeater (if it's going to give the sort of aural pleasure a repeater ought to give) to be painstakingly hand-adjusted and tuned by someone whom it may take a decade or more to train to their craft, most brands even at the high end generally give the combination of these two complications a pass. Audemars Piguet certainly has the capability but generally combines the repeater and the perpetual calendar with a rattrapante chronograph, in its various grand complication watches – which, of course, is also a rare and wonderful thing to do, but the company doesn't at least for now do just a perpetual plus repeater in a single watch.
Indeed, the field of really high-end fine watchmaking houses devoted to keeping the craft of traditional complicated watchmaking alive, and also pursuing it in the timeless style that dominated the making of complex watches in Switzerland (especially among makers in the Vallée de Joux) seems to be narrowing every year. Bulgari keeps the flame burning on the movement construction and craft side of things, certainly, but their aesthetics are Roman, not Genevan or Vaudois (which is as it should be). There is of course Patek Philippe and the third of the traditional Big Three, Audemars Piguet, is as we've noted already more oriented towards evolving its audience for the contemporary and more forward-looking approach represented by the new 11:59 Collection (though again, they're a pretty respectable repository of Ancient Watchmaking Wisdom just on the strength of their ability to make true grand comps). Thus far, A. Lange & Söhne hasn't put the two complications together in matrimonial bliss in a single watch.
That leaves, among the companies traditionally sought out for their expertise in highly complex watches from the Vallée de Joux, the Grand Maison herself, Jaeger-LeCoultre. This year, JLC released the latest Hybris Mechanica: the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, which is a minute repeater ringing the Chimes of Westminster, with perpetual calendar, and also fitted with a multi-axis gyrotourbillon as well as the constant force device known as a remontoire d'egalité. Those of you with a taste for hair-splitting will note that this is, indeed, "just" a perpetual calendar and minute repeater, as both the remontoire d'egalité and the tourbillon, howsoever many axes about which it pirouettes, are not considered complications, but rather, regulating devices.
All this is by way of saying that if you want a really uncompromisingly classic minute repeater perpetual calendar, pleasantly flat, and without a rattrapante or any other sort of chronograph swinging in from the wings and trying to steal the scene (as chronographs tend to do) you could do much, much worse that the 1731 QP. Generally speaking, complications making nowadays is the art of more is more, but these two unique pieces, for all that they will not directly affect most of our lives, are still a salutary presence, in reminding us of the banal but sometimes irrefutable assertion that classics are classics for a reason.

ТТХ:

The Basics

Brand: Vacheron Constantin
Model: Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar
Reference Number: 6610C/000G-B511

Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 10.44mm
Case Material: pink or white gold
Dial Color: Brown or blue opaline
Indexes: Applied gold
Strap/Bracelet: alligator with matching gold buckle

The Movement

Caliber: 1731 QP
Functions: minute repeater with perpetual calendar, ultra-flat
Diameter: 32.80mm
Thickness: 5.70mm
Power Reserve: 65 hours
Winding: hand-wound
Frequency: 3Hz/21,600 vph
Jewels: 36
Additional Details: Geneva Hallmark

Pricing & Availability

Price: On request
Availability: By special order
Limited Edition: Two unique pieces

Источник:
Ходинки
Introducing The Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar

Монохром
SIHH 2019 Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar