Additional information

Vacheron Constantin - 30110/000P-B089

Patrimony Ultra Thin Calibre 1731 Platinum / Grey

Case

Dial

Description

The creation of striking watches ÿ known to be the most difficult complications to produce ÿ is an art mastered by very few watchmakers. For more than two centuries, the Manufacture Vacheron Constantin has been creating an array of splendid striking watches. In 2013, the Maison unveiled a true masterpiece of virtuosity in which the complexity of the striking mechanism was matched by the additional challenge of creating the thinnest hand-wound calibre and the thinnest hand-wound minute repeater watch on the market, at respectively 3.9 and 8.1 mm thick. Initially introduced in 18K 5N pink gold, at Watches & Wonders 2015 this timepiece appeared clothed in a platinum case ÿ framing a silvered opaline or slate-colored opaline dial ÿ naturally bearing the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva.

Particular care was devoted to the acoustics of the Patrimony ultra-thin calibre 1731, since the sound of a striking watch is its very reason for being. Various technical choices were made to ensure a crystalclear and perfectly tuneful tone. The gongs are not only connected to the case middle so as to amplify the sound, but also for the first time stacked rather than placed side by side. The platinum case is shaped so as to form a unified whole with the movement, within a clever composition incorporating such subtle parameters as the airflow between the mechanism and the case, designed to achieve optimal propagation of the notes. Nor does the quest for perfection end there, since the case itself has been built without joints so that the elements can interact metal against metal and thereby enhance the amplitude of the sound, while the flying governor ensures a regular rate of the hammer blows on the gongs.

Movement

It was in 2009 that Vacheron Constantin decided to create a new minute repeater combining slenderness, a pure sound, aesthetic beauty, reliability and sturdiness. Four years proved necessary to solve this complex equation. While the new Calibre 1731 is barely thicker than its predecessor from 1993 ÿ 3.90 compared with 3.28 mm ÿ due to its impressive 65-hour power reserve, it is nonetheless the thinnest on the market today, having successfully overcome the difficulty of assembling and adjusting parts that have been slimmed down to extremes. Nor are the technical feats confined to the ultra-thin side of its nature, since Calibre 1731 is equipped with a highly ingenious device developed by Vacheron Constantin in 2007 for the 2755 movement ÿ another member of this exclusive family of minute repeater calibres: a flying strike governor. Contrary to classic lever-type governors, this one is completely silent. Its role is to steady the rate at which the hammers strike the gongs. Without a regulator or governor, this musical sequence would take place at the speed of the striking barrel-spring, and would merely produce a rush of indiscernible notes. The device developed by Vacheron Constantin comprises two inertia-blocks or weights designed to act as a brake on the rotating shaft of the governor and thus evening out the energy supplied by the barrel spring. To achieve this, it makes use of two opposing centrifugal and centripetal forces. When the governor spins, the centrifugal force pivots one end of the weights outwards so that the other end presses on the shaft so as to stabilise the rotation speed and thus ensure a steady cadence. Perfectly finished right down to the smallest details, the governor bears Vacheron Constantin's Maltese Cross emblem, even though the latter cannot be seen from the front of the calibre.

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