The Gentleman Magazine Issue 13 | February 2019 | Page 14

SIHH 2019: Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual
Calendar, A Breakthrough in Function and Innovation
Over its 264 years of horological excellence, Vacheron
Constantin has established an unshakeable reputation for
meaningful innovation in technical and design domains. Today
defining the future of fine mechanical watchmaking, Vacheron
Constantin presents the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual
Calendar, a timepiece that can adapt to its wearer’s needs.
When worn, the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar
beats at a high frequency that is aligned with modern active
lifestyles, displaying the hours, minutes, date, month, leap
year cycle and power reserve on its dial. When the watch is
not being worn, its in-house developed calibre 3610 QP can be
slowed down in order to guarantee an extended power reserve
of at least 65 days.
One of the most basic assumptions of mechanical watchmaking
used to be that the energy output of the mainspring barrel had a
fixed timespan, with very little deviation from the stated power
reserve. The Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar
transforms the mainspring into a source of variable energy
levels, giving fine mechanical watchmaking a completely new
degree of versatility.
Drawing on 264 years of horological expertise, Vacheron
Constantin has achieved this innovative coup by giving the
Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar two balances,
each operating at a different frequency that has never been
used before by the Maison. A pusher at the 8 o’clock position
allows the wearer to easily switch from one frequency to
another, depending on activity level. When the watch is on the
wrist, the wearer will get the most out of it by keeping it in
Active mode, which features a 5Hz (36,000vph) balance and 4
days of power reserve.
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If the watch is to be taken off and left unworn for some
time, it can be switched to Standby mode, which runs on a
second balance with a drastically reduced frequency of 1.2Hz
(8,640vph). This allows the maximum power reserve to be
extended to at least 65 days. At any point during the Standby
mode running time, the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual
Calendar can be switched back to Active mode and reworn,
with all its calendar indications perfectly up to date.
About the perpetual calendar
The perpetual calendar is commonly considered as the
most practical out of all the high complications. A complex
mechanism that can correctly display all date information
despite variable months and leap years, the perpetual calendar
has an everyday relevance and utility. Up until now, however,
the relevance and utility of the perpetual calendar have been
restricted by the limits of conventional mainspring technology,
making it necessary in most cases to set a perpetual calendar
watch each time before it is worn.
Now, a hand-wound perpetual calendar can be set flat on a
table and picked up more than two months later, still displaying
the correct date and month. The Vacheron Constantin
Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar brings true
significance to the “perpetual” part of its name and charts a
new course of timeless innovation.
Power and Control with the Twin Beat® System
The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual
Calendar utilises a patent-pending mechanical system that
enables instantaneous switching between Active mode (5Hz,
36,000vph) and Standby mode (1.2Hz, 8,640vph) without
interrupting the ability of the movement to keep time.
, Security in Motion”