Four Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle complications do absolute justice to its 270th anniversary

Founded in 1755, Vacheron Constantin’s esteemed position in high horology has never been disputed. But did you know that the brand also holds the distinction of having never ceased operations since its birth, even through wars, economic crises, and ownership changes — making it the longest-running watch manufacture still running today?

Even if you could imagine what centuries of unbroken provenance in savoir-faire and technical innovation can culminate in, Vacheron Constantin has a knack for exceeding one’s expectations.

For its milestone 270th anniversary, the company has chosen to showcase its ability to continually reinvent itself while remaining faithful to its heritage through the Traditionelle collection. 

And naturally, for a house renowned for its mechanical complications and one that is responsible for both the world’s most complex wristwatch and pocket watch, the 2024 Les Cabinotiers The Berkley Grand Complication and the 2025 Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication, this category of timepieces would be where its mastery takes flight.

Traditionelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar

The past meets the future in this 127-piece limited edition that stands out as a connoisseur’s watch in every sense. Its sculpted 42mm case, rendered in 950 platinum, carries the iconic restrained elegance of the Traditionnelle line defined by a stepped case and lugs, slender bezel, fluted caseback, dauphine hands, and chemin de fer minutes track.

Yet, the creation is unusually slim for a watch that houses both a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar. The secret lies in the new Calibre 2162 QP/270, just 6.55mm thick. This self-winding manufacture movement employs a peripheral oscillating weight, which not only preserves its svelte profile but also offers an uninterrupted view of the movement’s architecture. 

A 72-hour power reserve, a relatively slow-beating 18,000vph frequency evoking historic pocket watches, and a meticulous layout ensure that the tourbillon’s mechanical ballet remains both visible and mesmerising.

This calibre’s genesis is rooted in Vacheron’s 2018 Calibre 2160, a self-winding tourbillon movement known for its thinness. The watchmakers have now re-engineered it to integrate a full perpetual calendar — tracking day, date, month, and leap years without adjustment until 2100 — without adding undue height. It’s a modern echo of the brand’s 2005 “Saint-Gervais” anniversary piece, which first paired these two grande complications, then in manual-winding form.

The artistry, however, extends well beyond the mechanics. The solid gold dial bears the house’s hallmark hand-guilloched flourish — this time, with a Maltese cross-inspired pattern conceived by the maison’s master guillocheur for the brand’s 270th birthday limited editions. 

Its origins trace to Vacheron Constantin’s 1955 bicentenary Reference 6068, updated for this occasion with a contemporary crispness that scatters light with every wrist movement. The motif’s symmetry and precision demand hours of focused manual engraving, an artisanal discipline that has remained unchanged for centuries.

Turning the watch over reveals the calibre’s discreet anniversary emblem engraving and a bridge finish known as “côte unique” — a decorative technique once used over a century ago, lost to time, and revived only in 2021 during the reproduction of the Historiques American 1921 watch.

Perfecting it for this calibre took over 500 hours due to the minute, precise adjustments necessary to achieve the intended visual harmony. To the uninitiated, it appears understated; to the seasoned eye, it’s unmistakably superlative.

It comes fitted with a luxurious, hand-stitched dark blue Mississippiensis alligator leather strap that also bears a polished 950 platinum folding buckle decorated with a half Maltese cross.

Traditionelle Openface

Three truly unique 950 platinum limited editions do not just pay homage to Vacheron Constantin’s openface concept dating back to a 1918 astronomical calendar pocket watch with a partially openworked dial, but flaunt the maison’s wizardry in fusing style and substance.

The Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Retrograde Date Openface, Traditionnelle Tourbillon Retrograde Date Openface, and Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Openface each reinterpret two of the manufacture’s historic signatures — openworked dials and retrograde displays — while introducing new technical evolutions, intricate decoration, and a modern sensibility.

Together, these 41mm creations are built on the back of the brand’s distinguished portfolio of open-face styles, which includes the 2019 Traditionnelle Twin Beat perpetual calendar, and then the 2002 Reference 47247 marking the official return of this dial type to serial production.

Elevating their worthiness as special limited editions are their retrograde displays that honour the masterpieces from the past: the 1940 “Don Pancho” Reference 3620, the 1944 Mercator, and the Reference 47245 from the early 2000s.

Debuting a new self-winding movement, Calibre 2460 QPR31/270 with a thickness of mere 5.45mm, is the Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Retrograde Date Openface. The 275-component mechanism integrates two high complications — a perpetual calendar accurate until 2100, with day, month, leap-year cycle and moonphases — alongside a retrograde date.

The moonphase indication, boasting a realistic lunar surface, needs correction only once every 122 years. The openworked dial uses sapphire discs for calendar indications that are set against a deep blue background for legibility, while offering an unobstructed view of the retrograde mechanism in motion.

The Traditionnelle Tourbillon Retrograde Date Openface houses the self-winding Calibre 2162 R31/270, a 242-component movement with a 72-hour power reserve and an 18,000vph heartbeat — slow enough to savour the tourbillon’s graceful rotation at 6 o’clock. Its slim 6.35mm height is achieved via a peripheral gold oscillating weight that makes way for the retrograde date display above. 

The combination of a tourbillon regulator and retrograde mechanism, arranged for maximum visual theatre, encapsulates the maison’s approach of expressing technical complexity with graceful clarity.

Completing the trio, the Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Openface is powered by the 312-component Calibre 2460 QCL/270. It is a modern evolution of Vacheron Constantin’s first entirely in-house self-winding complete calendar movement, Calibre 2450. 

The watch displays day, date, and month — the latter two on sapphire discs — along with a high-precision moonphase that also requires only once-in-122-year adjustment. The date is indicated on the outer periphery by a blued hand, balancing traditional display logic with the openness of the dial.

Like the commemorative Traditionelle Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, their dials are adorned with the 270th anniversary Maltese cross motif, and their calibres with the rare Côte Unique technique and engraved anniversary emblem. Every visible component is hand-chamfered, polished, and finished to exacting standards.

And in true Traditionnelle style, each watch is fitted with a large square-scaled, hand-sewn alligator strap, and comes secured by a platinum pin buckle shaped as a half Maltese cross. And they are each limited to just 370 individual numbered pieces.