Philosophia: one of VC's rare unique bespoke pieces to be made public

August 25, 10 14:56 In 2006 Vacheron Constantin set up a bespoke department called the Atelier Cabinotiers, a first for any watch brand - this specialised service enabled having abespoke watch made to the custommers specifications, from just a different dial to a watch with a proprietary movement.

Unfortunately the designs belonging to the clients the brand could not communicate on these creations.

Luckyly the owner of this watch has accepted to share.

The owner's original idea was to have a tourbiloon minute repeater but with no hands! The tourbillon for the visual pleasure and the minute repeater to tell time. However as the project advanced it was decided to add only one hand which would advance in 24h cycles, a moonphase indicator was also added.

The base movement would be that of the 2755 (minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar with power reserve indicator on the back plate) but modified for the new indications.

Vincent Kauffman the designer and the client started working together on some sketches of what the watch was to look like, in terms of case design and dial layout










then 3D images were drawn which enables one to assess the volumes








technical drawings were made for the caliber and the dial





the client wanted a personalised power reserve indicator on the back representing the Big Dipper



this is what the final dial looks like



The (unfinished) case: the movement is linked to the case and the nback crystal as to create the most resonance, thus the clearest chime






The movement is a modified version of the cal 2755

Underdial:



Caliber which has been modified to add a moonphase indicator...



...as well as having time told on a 24 hour scale with only one hand



The hammers note the centripedal regulator (on the left side) which removes the regulator's buzzing sound when the repeater is activated





And voilà The Philosophia






 

		Philosophia: one of VC's rare unique bespoke pieces to be made public	Alex Ghotbi	Aug 25, 10 14:56
		A true Masterpiece!	Fred925	Aug 25, 10 15:22
		From inception to completion..........	tony chance	Aug 25, 10 16:45
		Amazing! Thanks to Alex and the lucky owner for sharing. [nt]	Jason Chen	Aug 25, 10 16:56
		Re: Philosophia: one of VC's rare unique bespoke pieces to be made public	JB	Aug 25, 10 16:57
		Absolutely fantastic!	marko	Aug 25, 10 17:02
		it wasn't you, Joseph??? ;-))) nt	Radek	Aug 25, 10 18:06
		Re: it wasn't you, Joseph??? ;-))) nt	JB	Aug 29, 10 22:33
		Re: it wasn't you, Joseph??? ;-))) nt	JB	Aug 29, 10 22:34
		Wow! A special watch...	Rei	Aug 25, 10 17:10
		kind of funny, I agree, Rei but I guess it just gets a bit of getting	Radek	Aug 25, 10 18:13
		A "true" minute repeater, Radek? hehe	Rei	Aug 28, 10 04:45
		What is the dial made of? The first image of the dial alone...	Edu	Aug 25, 10 17:15
		the dial is made of gold, it is not enamel	Alex Ghotbi	Aug 25, 10 21:54
		Pure class!	Radek	Aug 25, 10 20:36
		Brilliant!	mkvc	Aug 26, 10 03:37
		Attention - Attention - Attention - ...	small-luxury-world	Aug 26, 10 10:11
		Amazing!	cisco	Aug 26, 10 12:56
		Congratulations to the proud owner and VC...	mikesprang	Aug 27, 10 02:04
		its the owner's decision, he considred that if he wanted the exact	Alex Ghotbi	Aug 27, 10 09:31
		Exceptional & truly creative!	Fernando	Aug 27, 10 03:40
		What a beautiful piece....	Donut	Aug 27, 10 03:42
		Re: Philosophia: one of VC's rare unique bespoke pieces to be made public	Jacky	Aug 27, 10 05:25
		Hey Jacky good to see you here :-) I don't know the price but would	Alex Ghotbi	Aug 27, 10 14:40
		Re: Philosophia: one of VC's rare unique bespoke pieces to be made public	Nistor Razvan	Aug 27, 10 09:12
		VC at its best!	kazumi	Aug 27, 10 14:01
		Magnificent!!!	Alberto	Aug 30, 10 10:06
		Philosphically, an extremely clean and understandable logic!	dshao1	Sep 6, 10 04:05