SIHH 2018
Les Aérostiers
VACHERON
CONSTANTIN
IN ADDITION TO THE NEW COLLECTION OF OVERSEAS DUAL TIME
WATCHES and the Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Collection Excellence
Platine we showed you late last year, Vacheron Constantin added many more
new watches to its 2018 collection at SIHH. Yes, you’ll find an impressive ultra-
thin Overseas Perpetual Calendar, a series of Métiers d’Art models dedicated
to early balloonists, a Traditionnelle tourbillon (the firm’s first automatic ultra-
thin tourbillon caliber) and two unique-piece grand complications.
But amid all these highly impressive artisanal and technical achieve-
ments, Vacheron Constantin’s highest profile 2018 debut is its much-discussed
FiftySix collection, a set of three 40mm steel or pink gold dress watches that
reinterpret the firm’s own reference 6073, which debuted in 1956. The FiftySix
marks the first time in its history that Vacheron Constantin has decided to
offer a classic collection both in gold and in steel.
The FiftySix takes a page from the Vacheron Constantin year-specific 1972
collection that re-imagines a specific historical reference, but with modern
materials and adjusted case sizes.
The historic reference at the root on the FiftySix is Vacheron Constantin’s
reference 6073, one of the first watches from the Manufacture to be equipped
with a self-winding movement (Calibre 1019/1) and said to be particularly reli-
able. Most other collections at the time , including those made in-house and
those from competitors, were driven by manual-winding mechanisms. What’s
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more, the original model boasted a then-unusual water-resistant construction
with a multi-sided caseback.
Vacheron Constantin has echoed many of these original characteristics
into the new FiftySix collection. Thus you’ll find the Maltese-cross-referenced
lugs, the box-type crystal, the automatic movement (featuring new Calibre
1326, endowed with a 48-hour power reserve and a rotor with a Maltese cross
emblem), and a dial divided into sectors. The new collection differs most
significantly from the 1956 original by featuring Arabic numerals, a recessed
crown and a slightly larger case size.
At SIHH Vacheron Constantin debuted three FiftySix models, each available in
various steel or gold versions: Date, Day of the Week (also with date and power-
reserve indicator) and Complete Calendar with moonphase. Prices: FiftySix
Self-Winding Steel $11,700; FiftySix Self-Winding Pink Gold $19,400; FiftySix
Day Date Steel $17,400; FiftySix Day Date Pink Gold $32,500; FiftySix Complete
Calendar Steel $21,600 and FiftySix Complete Calendar Pink Gold $35,800.
TRADITIONNELLE TOURBILLON AND TRADITION-
NELLE COMPLETE CALENDAR (ROSE GOLD)
In a 41 mm pink gold case, this new model marks Vacheron Constantin’s first
ultra-thin self-winding tourbillon movement (Caliber 2160) distinguished
by its very slim 5.65mm profile (which keeps the case at only 10.4mm thick)