Watch

MADE CIRCA: 1946

MATERIAL: 18ct Yellow Gold

MOVEMENT: Manual Mechanical

Notes

When the young Jean-Marc Vacheron opened a humble workshop in Geneva in 1755 at the age of 24, little did he know that the now prestigious watchmaking company ‘Vacheron & Constantin’ had been born.

Vacheron desired to craft timepieces that stood out with their elegance and quality however, had to create watches that also stood out from the over 800 watchmakers that were producing in Geneva at that time. It was on account of his business skills and their magnificent quality that Vacheron and his apprentices managed to sell watches to Italian and French nobles, thus allowing his company to thrive. Even through times of great uncertainty the flourishing business prospered.

The company persevered through great hardship however, in 1810 but a great decline in business in Geneva meant that the then owner, Jacques Barthelemy Vacheron decided to become partners with his friend the extravagant and excessively self-confident businessman Francois Constantin.
While many thought Constantin, so called ‘King of Watchmakers’, would be Vacheron & Constantin’s downfall, the company managed to defy any doubt and live up to its slogan – ‘Faire mieux si possible, ce qui est toujours possible’ (Do better when possible, and it is always possible). Surviving at this time was no small feat when Louis XVIII reigned. Taxes and charges were handed out randomly overnight while valuables and timepieces would be destroyed during inspections and businesses struggled within Geneva.

Vacheron & Constantin has established itself globally and become highly regarded in both watch collecting circles and high society. Acclaimed for their superior skill with design and quality they have created timepieces for such nobles as Empress Eugenie to whome they supplied a pendant watch, a pocket watch for Tsar Alexander II and several watches for Emperor Napoleon II that carried his portrait.

World History

- President Harry S. Truman delivers Proclamation 2714, which officially ends hostilities in World War II.

- The first meeting of the United Nations is held at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London.

- Laurence Olivier's Henry V opens in the United States nearly 2 years after its release in England. It is the first Shakespeare film in colour, and critics hail it as the finest film adaptation of a Shakespeare play ever made.

Enquiries

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