“Dress watches” were initially just “watches.” While their popularity may have dwindled over the years as more casual and sporty watches have taken off, many brands have stayed faithful to the concept of the dress watch as Martin Green highlights here with five beautiful examples from 2021.
Ask and ye shall receive, dear readers! Well, within reason. Quill & Pad reader and frequent commenter Greg has been after GaryG for a while to write a piece on his Vacheron Constantin Overseas Deep Stream Chronograph, most recently in response to Gary’s article on three “keepers” from his collection that don’t get a lot of wrist time. Gary didn’t include the Deep Stream on that list as it is a quite frequent wearer for him, but now its time in the spotlight has come.
It is now a tradition for watchmakers to observe Chinese New Year by creating beautiful, decorative, limited edition timepieces adorned with symbolic depictions of the appropriate sign of the Chinese zodiac – often using rare, artistic techniques paying tribute to the eastern calendar. The Year of the Tiger – which is the third animal in the 12-year zodiac cycle – begins on February 1, 2022. Elizabeth Doerr shares eight auspicious examples here.
Vacheron Constantin has recently released a watch that crosses the bridge between the worlds of watches and wine: a single-piece edition called Les Cabinotiers Grande Complication Bacchus. Ken Gargett understands that watch people find this as exciting as wine lovers might find the new vintage of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Romanée-Conti.
The twelfth edition of Poland’s Watch of the Year by CH24.PL included all timepieces introduced in 2021 competing across six regular categories. Brands did not have to enter their watches; the shortlists were made by the jury. And the wonderful winners are . . .
As read by you, here are the top ten most viewed articles on Quill & Pad this past year. There are definitely a few surprises. Drum roll, please: in no particular order, our top ten most viewed articles of 2021 were . . .
Launch yet another me-too blue-dialed steel sports watch today and you can expect flack. The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon is, you guessed it, a blue-dialed steel sporty watch. But as Joshua Munchow explains, it’s much more than that. And you’ll probably really like it.
“The Holy Trinity,” as any watch nerd knows, refers to the triumvirate of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin. Colin Smith takes a look at what we mean – or think we mean – when we describe PP, AP, and VC as the “Holy Trinity” of watchmaking and when we describe a timepiece as our “grail watch.”
Oh, those Geneva auctions! While GaryG’s intention is usually to browse the rare pieces on offer, gain an education from his auction-house friends and escape unscathed, it seems that more often than not there is a piece that puts him into bidding mode. And sometimes that piece is entirely unanticipated as was the case of the Vacheron & Constantin Reference 4560 triple calendar that he stumbled across at a Sotheby’s preview. Here is why he bought it.
Vacheron Constantin’s history has been filled with extraordinary, complicated, and elegant timepieces. Here are the five most complicated pocket watches the Geneva maison has produced throughout its 266-year history, beginning with the record-holding Reference 57260.
