57 complications in a single watch, unveiled on the very anniversary of the Geneva manufacture’s 260th year of continuous operation.

For eight years, three of Vacheron Constantin’s Master Watchmakers have been working assiduously behind the scenes to design and produce what is now seen as the most complicated mechanical watch ever made (although some may quibble with the way the complications are enumerated). The Reference 57260, commissioned by a collector who insisted on both anonymity and the utmost discretion regarding its price (the figure of CHF 8 million is being whispered, although it hasn’t been confirmed), marks a major step forward in the evolution of mechanical watchmaking. There is little doubt that all the research, accumulated mathematical and astronomical calculations, technical advances, innovative mechanical transpositions and solutions, and complex know-how acquired during its design and production will continue to bear fruit in Vacheron Constantin’s future timepieces, and even beyond, in the art of 21st century mechanical watchmaking as a whole. It’s good to know that, in the era of the smartwatch, mechanical watchmaking can still steal the limelight.

Europa Star November 2015 Magazine Issue