I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Record/IV · Acquisition
Room I · The Maker
Founded in Geneva in 1755, Vacheron & Constantin is the oldest watchmaker in continuous operation and a name that has always sat at the very top of Swiss horology. This open-face piece from around 1913 wears the name three times over, on the enamel dial, inside the cuvette and across the movement, with the case struck by the maker's cartouche and the Swiss gold control mark. Dial, cuvette, movement and case all agree. It comes as seen, without box or papers.
The Object
A genuine Vacheron & Constantin in solid 18ct gold, triple-signed and in perfect running order. White enamel dial, Breguet numerals, c.1913.
A full-size Belle Époque Vacheron & Constantin: 48.9mm of solid 18ct yellow gold, 78.7 grams of watch, made in Geneva around 1913 and sold new by J. Neubauer of Verviers, a jeweller in the prosperous Belgian textile town, in the last years before the First World War. The retailer's name is still engraved inside, next to the maker's; between the two of them, the watch carries both its maker and the shop counter it first crossed.
The dial is the heart of it. White enamel with black Breguet-style Arabic numerals and a sub-seconds register at six, it is clean and bright with no chips and no hairline cracks. Enamel of this age has usually collected damage somewhere along the way; this one has come through more than a century whole, under slim gold baton hands.
The case matches it: bright polish, crisp bezel and edges, the caseback and inner cuvette both closing with a firm, precise snap. Behind them the frosted gilt keyless lever movement winds smoothly, sets cleanly and runs well.
Weight is part of the pleasure of this watch. At nearly 79 grams it announces the metal every time it is picked up: a full-size dress watch from the age when Geneva's oldest house made them without economy.
The marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the three signatures and the retailer's mark are recorded in The Record.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
Mark 1
Vacheron & Constantin cartouche
The maker's cartouche with the 18K mark and the Swiss gold control mark, struck to the case.
case
gold
Mark 2
Movement no. 347894
Signed Vacheron & Constantin Genève with the Maltese-cross star, numbered to date it to c.1913.
movement
signature
Mark 3
J. Neubauer, Verviers
The retailer's signature inside the cuvette, the Belgian jeweller who sold the watch new.
cuvette
retailer
Mark 4
- AFrosted gilt keyless leverA manual-wind keyless-lever movement; it winds smoothly, sets cleanly and runs well.
- BSigned Vacheron & Constantin GenèveWith the Maltese-cross star, the maker's mark on the calibre.
- CNumbered 347894The movement serial dating manufacture to around 1913.
Case
Excellent
Solid 18ct yellow gold, mirror-polished with crisp bezel and edges; only fine swirl hairlines to the interior of the caseback from opening, and the caseback and cuvette both close firmly.
Dial
Excellent
White enamel, clean and bright, with no chips or hairline cracks and a crisp signature; the gold spade hands are original and undamaged.
Movement
Excellent
Frosted gilt keyless lever signed Vacheron & Constantin Genève, no. 347894; clean, and it winds, sets and runs well.
Crystal
Excellent
Clean, with no chips or significant scratches.
Crown
Excellent
Fluted crown, winds and sets smoothly.
48.91
This watch
25.75
€2 coin
A €2 coin is 25.75 mm. This case is more than two and a half times its area.
Room III · The Record
Triple-signed, and sold by a named jeweller
The name is painted on the dial, engraved inside the cuvette and signed across the movement, numbered 347894, a serial that dates manufacture to around 1913 on Vacheron's own records. The cuvette carries one further signature: J. Neubauer of Verviers, the Belgian jeweller who sold the watch new, rooting it in a real place and time in the years before the First World War.
- Maker
- Vacheron & Constantin, Genève
- Model
- 18ct gold open-face dress watch
- Case
- 18ct yellow gold
- Diameter
- 48.91mm
- Total weight
- 78.7g
- Case style
- Open face, keyless wind and set
- Movement
- Manual wind, frosted gilt keyless lever, signed
- Movement no.
- 347894
- Case no.
- 247152
- Complications
- Sub-seconds
- Dial
- White enamel, Breguet-style Arabic numerals
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Estimated date
- C.1913
- Hallmarks
- 18K, Vacheron & Constantin cartouche, star/comet poinçon, Swiss gold control mark
- Retailer
- J. Neubauer, Verviers (Belgium)
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
€6.500
We’d love to discuss our passion for this piece with you.
Vacheron & Constantin
€6.500
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