WHL
[VC Moderator]
4922
Dial Details of Vacheron Constantin's Historiques 1955
There has been some talk about Vacheron Constantin’s Historiques 1955
of late. I wrote a quick look review of this watch back in February of
this year.
vacheron.watchprosite.com
Though I talked at length about the history of the design and the movement, I neglected to say much about the dial of the watch. In seeing this watch in person you can’t help but notice that the hour markers are impossibly thin. It seems obvious that they couldn’t be applied. I would have guessed that the markers would have been “applied,” not with tradition feet on the bottom of the marker being inserted into drilled holes, but rather through the galvanic growth process as we see for the “applied” markers on the sapphire dials of the Quai de l’Ile. I would have been wrong!
I wrote to Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin’s Artistic Director, to get a definitive answer about the details of the dial of the Historiques 1955. When designing the Historiques 1955, one of the goals was to create the thinnest mechanical watch in the market, and one way to save space was to use painted indexes rather than applied. But the designers at Vacheron Constantin wanted a more luxurious and sophisticated finish than is possible with a painted finish. So, Selmoni says, “we developed a dial with ‘mirror’ indexes, meaning that the surface of the dial has been polished, and then the silver-opaline finish is applied on, with the exception for the spaces of the indexes by using a ‘mask’ which is removed once the silver-opaline finish” is applied. A final transparent “satin-like” varnish is then applied to the entire dial, which tones down the shininess of the mirror-like indices. This process is not without precedent, having been employed in some 1972 models in the past.
My follow up question to this lucid answer was whether or not Vacheron Constantin uses 18ct 4N gold for the dial base, as a gold base dial is often the choice of the brand, as in the Patrimony Contemporaine 81180 timepieces, to correctly get the minute “pearls;” with diamond paved pieces, to enhance the brilliance of the stones; and with the "Métiers d'Art" crafts such as enamel or guillochage. It turns out that the base material of the dial of the Historiques 1955 is a brass alloy that matches the 4N color of the case of the watch. Selmoni says, “brass has been chosen due to the fact that the attachment pins of the dial are located at the outer part of the dial itself. Even if the case has a diameter of 36 mm, the dial is quite large and therefore rigidity is a must for both dial quality and casing-in reliability. Our technical department, for these reasons, had a preference for a brass alloy rather than gold.”
When we look at the Historiques 1955 we see, at a glance, a beautiful wristwatch. When we pay attention to the details of the watch, whether the case, dial, or movement, we appreciate its beauty, and all the thought and work that went into the watch’s design and execution. When we learn about the thought that goes into the design of a Vacheron Constantin watch, with the pursuit of excellence and the emphasis on reliability and durability (as Vacheron Constantin promises to service any of its timepieces forever), we can’t help but to be impressed.
Bill
VC Forum Moderator
Dial Details of Vacheron Constantin's Historiques 1955
There has been some talk about Vacheron Constantin’s Historiques 1955 of late. I wrote a quick look review of this watch back in February of this year. vacheron.watchprosite.com Though I talked at length about the history of the design and the movement, I...
