Ending this year with a bang, we have the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers ‘La Musique du Temps’ Collection focuses on Christmas carols with a series of 12 new watches that boast of my two favorite complications minute repeater and perpetual calendar (in some).
Before we go into the details of our pick of watches, let’s take a step back and understand what is the significance of the Les Cabinotiers department. Keeping the spirit of its founders alive, the Les Cabinotiers department holds up the valued tradition of offering its exclusive clients a chance to own and create ‘made-to-measure watches.’
This highly-experienced team is made up of expert professionals who bring to the table, technical and manual expertise along with a treasure trove of scientific knowledge and the ability to craft new ideas and deliver highly-complicated watches on demand.
The department of Les Cabinotiers personifies excellence and dedication thanks to the team of master watchmaking professionals. Designers and engineers who focus upon the movement and style of watches along with artisans, who collaborate on exclusive projects. Each year, the department crafts a thematic collection inspired from a creative universe that is important to the Maison: l’Eloge de la Nature, l’Art et la Culture, l’Aventure Humaine and l’Astronomie.
Nestled here is the ‘La Musique du Temps’ that focuses on the music that surrounds us. The watches under this collection include exemplary examples like La Musique du Temps Symphonia Grande Sonnerie “The Sixth Symphony” – dedicated to the the score of Beethoven’s Sixth symphony. The La Musique du Temps Minute Repeater Ultra-Thin – “A Romantic Note” is a romantic creation with a music score, rhythming the time with its singular railroad and Arabic enameled numerals.
Haute Horlogerie teamed with Christmas Carols is a heartwarming idea, and today we focus on four watches from the series. Common to the twelve watches is the fact they are one-of-a kind, meaning, limited to only watch.
Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Tourbillon Sky Chart
Details: The watch features a minute repeater, a tourbillon regulator and a rotating map of the skies. The 45mm case is crafted in 18k pink gold case with a magnificent blue dial with guilloché sunray finish. On the dial you will find the one-minute tourbillon showcasing the small seconds hand at 6 o’clock.
The flipside of the watch sports a concave dial, capturing a beautiful sky chart with the constellations and a section of the Milky Way. This sky chart completes a rotation in 23 hours and 56 minutes, corresponding to the sidereal time and supports the indication of the day, month and cardinal points.
Movement: The watch is powered by in-house manual-winding calibre 2755 TMRCC, that gives it a 58-hour power reserve.
Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Ultra-Thin
Details: Sporting a 41mm diameter case in 18k pink gold, this ultra-thin minute repeater has a very classic design. The case color complements the Grand Feu enamel dial in eggshell color. The details include a railroad minutes track, sloping black enamelled Arabic numerals and hollow-tipped hands.
The watch is teamed with a brown alligator strap with gold pin buckle.
Movement: An ultra-thin 1731-minute repeater caliber that measures 3.90mm thick, and providing 65 hours of power reserve.
Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater and Perpetual Calendar
Details: An minute repeater and perpetual calendar, this watch is powered by an ultra-thin movement. The case measure 42mm in diameter and is 10.44mm thick and the color options include pink gold or white gold. A hand-guilloché silvered sunray pattern is seen on the dial and the spherical hour markers are applied in white or pink gold.
A classic layout showcases the calendar and the months, date and days indication is featured in the top half of the dial. The leap year indication in a small aperture and the pusher on the left side, activates the minute repeater function.
Movement: An ultra-thin manual-winding movement – calibre 1731 QP that provides 65-hours of power reserve.
Les Cabinotiers Symphonia Grande Sonnerie
Details: An update to the 2017 Symphonia Grande Sonnerie, this timepiece features a grande and petite sonnerie with a minute repeater mechanism, which helps sound the hours and quarters in passing. It even has a repetition of the time before each quarter in grande sonnerie mode. And of course, without repetition in petite sonnerie mode.
Specs include a 45 mm, 18k pink gold case, with the score of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony hand-engraved on the side of the case. A beige toned dial with a guilloché pattern originating from the center, applied pink gold numerals and a small seconds counter at 7 o’clock, are some of the other details.
There are two power reserve indicators on the dial, one at 5 o’clock that tells us when to wind the watch and the other is the strikework indicated by a treble clef hand.
Movement: The manual-winding calibre 1860 with 727 components that takes 500 hours to assemble. It offers 72-hours of power reserve and 20 hours of power to the strikework.
