Faces Revealed

by Jonathan Bues

Vacheron Constantin is the world’s oldest continuously operating watch brand, a distinction
that carries with it an august position among watch brands that call Switzerland home.
One might expect that being the oldest firm, and being headquartered in the cité du temps that is Geneva, would position the brand perhaps too comfortably in the traditionalist school of watchmaking. But this has not been the case for Vacheron Constantin of late. Over the past several years, Vacheron Constantin has explored the boundaries of cutting-edge horology, and often with a nod to its own history, from the fully customizable Quai de L’Ile (a contemporary piece that recalls bespoke pieces of old with its custom-ordered details) to Métiers d’Art (a repository line for master engravers and artisans).
Two thousand and nine marks the completion of one of the firm’s most creative collaborations, begun three years ago with the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva. Through the unprecedented partnership Vacheron Constantin has created three limited-edition sets of timepieces inspired by a collection of primitive masks, which the museum’s owner, Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller, acquired from around the world. His museum is widely regarded to possess the largest collection of primitive art in the world, and Barbier-Mueller and Vacheron Constantin share a longstanding relationship.
Limited to twenty-five examples, each set of four watches features three-dimensional dials designed directly after—though obviously much smaller than—the museum’s rare holdings. At the center of each watch’s dial is a scaled-down, three-dimensional reproduction of a mask from one of four geographic regions: the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa.
In addition to the artistic reproduction of an ancient mask, each watch comes inscribed with a specially commissioned poem in French by French poet Michel Butor (see translated poems in captions). The poems are short verses dedicated to each mask, printed in gold around the dial, and are legible only when the watch is held at a certain angle. This, according to the firm, ensures that a special secret of the watch remains just for the wearer. It is the result of a special printing process and demonstrates Vacheron Constantin’s advanced metallurgical know-how.

Vacheron inside
At the heart of the series is Vacheron Constantin’s in-house caliber 2460G4, an automatic movement for which the firm received the Geneva Seal, a distinction that certifies the finishing and materials in addition to the Genevan origin of a mechanical watch movement. Earning the Geneva Seal from the independent Geneva Watchmaking School means a firm pursues a centuries-old method of manufacturing movements to an extremely high—some would say artistic—standard. Significant modifications to the movement were necessary in order for each watch to receive the three-dimensional mask at the center of its dial, and the viewer reads the time via four disks arrayed around the mask.
The third and final set of watches, which debut this year, includes pieces inspired by masks from Indonesia (representing Oceania), China (Asia), Mexico (the Americas), and Gabon (Africa).
The masks themselves span centuries, a diversity of cultures, and a number of intended uses. An artist from the Mezcala civilization sometime between 300 and 100 B.C. created the pendant mask from Mexico. Never intended to be worn on the face—it is far too small at 12.8 cm in height—it instead was used to decorate a tomb.