Vacheron Constantin's Métiers d'Art collection is a unique opportunity to travel through time and space, thanks to the talent of its master craftsmen. It is an opportunity to discover - or rediscover - certain historical chapters or artistic and cultural symbols of our civilisations. In this sense, the partnership launched with the Louvre in 2019 offers many inspirations. Working side by side with the museum's teams, Vacheron Constantin's designers and developers have therefore created a new series of four Métiers d'Art watches (each made in just five pieces) directly inspired by the Louvre's masterpieces. All four of these exclusive watches, which are part of the collection called Métiers d'Art Homage to the Great Civilisations, are available exclusively in Vacheron Constantin boutiques and feature a 42 mm pink gold case.
The main theme spans four eras and originates in the museum's incredible collection of antiquities: the Persian Empire of Darius the Great (for the model called Lion de Darius); Egypt of the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom (model Grand sphinx de Tanis); the Hellenistic period in Greece (model Victoire de Samothrace); the birth of the Roman Empire with the advent of Augustus (Buste d'Auguste model). Each of these great civilisations is represented by an important work of art from some of the Louvre's masterpieces. In particular, inspiration has come from: the decorative frieze of glazed flint bricks from the Palace of Darius; a sphinx and paintings from an Egyptian sarcophagus; the statue of Nike of Samothrace; fragments of Greek ceramic artefacts; the bust of Augustus and some splendid Roman mosaics.
The project was a challenge for the craftsmen, who were called upon to reproduce the expressive force of the works on a dial less than 40 mm in diameter, featuring ornaments inspired by the decorative arts of the different periods and inscriptions. The choice of techniques, the rare talents required to implement them and the original composition of these timepieces offer a fascinating spectacle, worthy of these great moments in history.
To power these Métiers d'Art watches that pay tribute to great civilisations, Vacheron Constantin has chosen the self-winding Manufacture calibre 2460 G4/2, equipped with four discs displaying the hours, minutes, days and date. The apertures displaying the hours, minutes, day and date, positioned symmetrically on the periphery of the dial, leave ample room for the craftsmen to express themselves. No hands, therefore, disturb the spectacle offered by these miniature masterpieces. On the back of the movement, the oscillating weight, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, also features a depiction (based on an 18th-century lithograph) of the eastern façade of the Louvre and its colonnade, the drawing of which was made by Louis Le Vau and Claude Perrault. The drawing matrix was hand-carved and then used to print the twenty oscillating masses that make up the series.
The dial is also surrounded by a frieze: two distinct and concentric elements in which the talent of the master craftsmen is expressed. The ornamentation of the dial is inspired by works in the Louvre representing the decorative arts of the four selected periods: Roman mosaics; a painted Egyptian sarcophagus; painted or bas-relief Greek ceramics and vases; a Babylonian-inspired brick frieze with coloured enamels.
The dial and frieze are composed of different decorative elements taken from works of the same period as the one depicted in the application. To create these beautiful backgrounds, Vacheron Constantin made use of several techniques of different craftsmen, such as champlevé enamel, grisaille enamel, stone inlay, micro stone mosaics and engraving.
