Les Cabinotiers Grande Complication Bacchus. Galet exklusivt from Vacheron Constantin

Text: Britta Rossander

Vacheron Constantin has a department dedicated to bespoke Grand Complication models and the manufacture of watches that are only made in a single copy called Les Cabinotier. The term has followed along since the 1700s. At that time watchmaker masters were called cabinotiers. This because they worked in ateliers on the top floors (in the attic) of Geneva's houses. These ateliers had large windows and bathed in natural light. But they were small and the watchmakers were therefore called cabinotier (French for cabinet). In the hands of these skilled craftsmen, open to the new ideas of the Enlightenment, they made exceptional watches. Watches inspired by astronomy, mechanical engineering and art. Many of them can also be seen at the Patek Philippe museum in the city. Vacheron Constantin has held on to the tradition of constructing these masterpieces since 1755.

There are, of course, occasional comments about Vacheron Constantin barely being seen in Sweden since there is only one retailer, Nymans Ur 1851 in Stockholm. And yes – their watches are not on every customer's wish list, due to at least three things: they are quite unknown, production is small and they are quite expensive. The prices for the unique Les Cabinotier are also staggering – when one talks about them, one doesn't talk about prices at all. It's only the intended customer who gets to know it. If the rest of us ask, they keep quiet as the wall and roll their eyes. 

But okay, they are fantastic. Sometimes overdecorated and a bit too jam-packed with complications. But no one can deny that they are extreme masterpieces. I can't help but highlight the latest watch, Les Cabinotiers Grande Complication Bacchus. A watch that contains remarkable craftsmanship such as engraving and gem-setting together with 16 complications in a double-sided case. It's likely that it will never come to Sweden. Vacheron has probably already picked out which customer is to get the ”honor” of buying it. But regardless, it's interesting.

Les Cabinotiers Grande Complication Bacchus

The pace in the case is kept by the inhouse calibre 2755GCC with 16 complications, mainly astronomical and calendar-related with minute repeater and tourbillon. The inspiration comes from both astronomy and mythology. The movement is in rose gold 5N. It has been adorned with vine leaves interspersed with rubies in the shape of grape clusters as a nod to Bacchus. Johannes Kepler is also mentioned as inspiration. German astronomer, mathematician and physicist who succeeded Tycho Brahe as imperial mathematician in Prague.

Calibre 2755 GC16 (with manual winding) has the watch Tour de l'Île as reference. This one, which was presented in 2005, was a tribute to the company's 250th anniversary and was made in eight copies. Of these, seven were for sale for about 1.5 million dollars each. The eighth is found at Vacheron's own museum. One of the seven is to be sold (lot 304) at Antiquorum's (Antiquorum.swiss) auction in Monaco on February 24 and the estimate is 1.8 – 3.0 million dollars.

Les Cabinotiers Grande Complication Bacchus has, among other things, a minute repeater that chimes hours, quarters and minutes. A perpetual calendar placed in the upper part of the dial shows date, day and month. This keeps track of the whims of the Gregorian calendar up to 2100 without adjustment.

Equation of time

The tribute to Johannes Kepler, one of the founders of modern astronomy who wrote down the laws of planetary motion, in perfect agreement with Copernicus's hypotheses, is shown on the champagne-colored dial and begins with ”equation of time” between 10 and 11 o'clock. A complication that can probably be described as hysterically complicated. Because the earth's orbit around the sun is not circular but elliptical and because the earth's axis is tilted 24° relative to the planet for its orbit, the time between two zenith passages of the sun is not the same throughout the year. The difference between the (true) solar day and the (average) 24-hour civil day varies from -16 to +14 minutes depending on the season and coincides only four times a year.

This is called the equation of time. Or time correction in astronomical language. On the watch this difference is shown with a hand. While times for sunrise and sunset, adjusted according to a reference city, are shown at the bottom of the dial. Phew!!! Who needs this??? And that's just a bit of what the watchmakers at Vacheron Constantin have packed into the movement, which contains 893 parts with a 58-hour power reserve.

The complications are otherwise many: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 6 o'clock on the tourbillon carriage, calendar (date, weekday, month, leap year) power reserve indication, equation of time, sunrise time, sunset time, alarm indication, sky chart, moon age and phases, sidereal hours and minutes, seasons, zodiac signs…

The buyer gets their watch in a ”Les Cabinotiers Prestige box” which also contains a correction pen and magnifying glass. But they should probably be careful about an incorrect adjustment at home. And surely it's a fantastic watch?