{"product_id":"18ct-gold-open-face-triple-signed-throughout-c-1945","title":"18ct Gold Open Face, Triple-Signed Throughout, c.1945","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGeneva's oldest great house, signed three times over on the dial, the movement and the case back: an 18k gold Vacheron \u0026amp; Constantin of 1945 with a clean champagne dial, running well.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis watch dates to around 1945, the years just after the Second World War, when demand for fine Swiss dress watches was recovering across Europe and America and Vacheron was making pieces like this one: quiet, correct, and built to be kept. At 46.9mm in solid 18k gold it sits at the larger end of the mid-century gentleman's watch, substantial in the hand, with a plain polished case and nothing on the outside to announce itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe champagne lacquered dial uses the mixed layout the house favoured in this period: Arabic numerals at the quarters and faceted dart markers between them, applied in white metal so they read cool against the warm ground, with slim gold baton hands and a sub-seconds register at six. The surface is clean throughout, with no lifting at the chapter ring, and the hands are original.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best detail is out of sight. Inside the caseback the gold is engine-turned in clous de Paris, sharp and unmarked, a finish spent on a surface only the owner ever sees. It is the kind of decision that tells you how the watch was made: as a complete, unified object, signed by the maker wherever a signature could go, not assembled from parts and named on the dial alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEighty years on, it has come through with the case true, the dial clean and the movement running. It winds smoothly, sets without resistance and runs well. No box or papers accompany it, which is usual for a watch of this age; the watch itself is in unusually good order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the three signatures are recorded in The Record.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vacheron \u0026 Constantin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54591950094675,"sku":"PW-0125","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/vacheron-constantin-18k-yellow-gold-pocket-watch-1_hero_a7600270-d6c4-49e5-926f-b5b204e5102d.jpg?v=1786755125","url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/products\/18ct-gold-open-face-triple-signed-throughout-c-1945","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}