When you’re one of the premiere watchmakers in the world, you can push the boat out for your 270th anniversary. Case in point is Vacheron Constantin, which has rolled out its La Quête du Temps haute chronologie clock complete with an automaton astronomer.
Vacheron Constantin was founded in Geneva in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron, who used to hang out with Rousseau and Voltaire when he wasn’t making watches. Today, it’s the world’s oldest watch company in continuous production and one of the top-tier brands that is known as one of the “Holy Trinity of Watchmaking” along with Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.
With the motto “Faire mieux si possible, ce qui est toujours possible,” which translates to “Do better if possible, and that is always possible,” Vacheron Constantin is a luxury brand where premium watches can retail in the US$100,000 range. It also has a reputation for innovation, regularly turning out showcases of fine watchmaking, including the world’s most complicated watch with 57 functions.
Vacheron Constantain
Therefore, it isn’t surprising that the company decided to pull out all the stops with a custom timepiece called La Quête du Temp (The Quest for Time) for its birthday. Standing 3.28 ft (1 m) tall and weighing 551 lb (250 kg), it’s not exactly a mantelpiece clock, but more of an exercise in what a team of master watchmakers, artisans, designers, engineers, and astronomers with ample funds and seven years can come up with. No wonder it’s on display in the Louvre in Paris until November 12, 2025.
La Quête du Temp has a general polygonal shape that resembles the famous 14th century Clock of Dondi, which is regarded as the first true modern clock. The first impression is a riot of glass, crystal, cast bronze gilded in 18K gold, inlays of semiprecious stone, and 122 brilliantly cut white diamonds. The whole thing consists of 2,370 components, including 128 jewels in the Calibre 9270 movement, with an additional 1,020 components for the habillage.
The clock is powered by five hand-wound barrels that provide it with 15 days of power. At the heart of the movement vibrating at 18,000 cycles per hour is an 18.8-mm Maltese cross tourbillon. So innovative are the works that 15 patents have been applied for.
Vacheron Constantin
In case you actually want to know the time, La Quête du Temps has 23 horological complications. Aside from the mundane hours and minutes, there’s a retrograde Moon display accurate for the next 110 years; a perpetual calendar with leap year, day, and month indications; a sidereal time display; a 24-hour display with day-to-night transition; sunrise and sunset time indicators; retrograde date display, front and back power reserve indicators; a celestial display; and a mechanical music device that plays three specially composed melodies.
But the pièce de résistance is at the top, where a crystal dome contains an automaton astronomer made of gilded cast bronze, the humanoid figure is powered by its own wind-up barrel and operates courtesy of 158 cams. These allow the figurine to display in the globe the months, seasons, equinoxes, and astrological zodiac signs via 144 gestures set to music that can be activated on demand or preprogrammed in advance.
Since La Quête du Temps is not for sale, no cost can be estimated, but I wouldn’t expect to see it at a jumble sale anytime soon.
“Is it always possible to do better? Is it always possible to be amazed? Undeniably,” said Laurent Perves, CEO of Vacheron Constantin. “At Vacheron Constantin, the pride and emotion we feel with each new project comes from the freedom and passion to create, which is fueled by the quest for excellence and innovation. The result of seven years of work, this unparalleled collaborative project has given life to a marvelous object, a mécanique d’art that brings together mankind and the universe, in an unprecedented cultural and artistic statement. It also inspired, as is always the case at Vacheron Constantin, a Métiers d’Art wristwatch like no other.”
Source: Vacheron Constantin
