At the request of a customer with a passion for watches and luxury cars, Vacheron Constantin made a custom-built in-vehicle clock for a Rolls-Royce Coachbuild of the customer: the Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail.
Working hand in hand with the designers and craftsmen of the prestigious British car manufacturer, the exclusive Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon watch was born. It is a unique piece housed in a removable and secure holder that fits into the dashboard of the car.
When the watch and its stand are removed from the cockpit, they can be stored in a case made of the same wood and mauve leather as the interior. The movement is the manual calibre 1990, introduced in 2016 and developed by the same watchmakers who made Ref. 57260. We are talking about the most complicated watch in the world, adapted to the needs of the customer and the technical peculiarities of a dashboard watch.
The choice of the calibre was mainly influenced by the bi-retrograde hour and minute display, which winks at traditional automobile tachometers. Added to this is the bi-axial armillary tourbillon, reminiscent of the celestial sphere models made in the 18th century. It is composed of two cages, one inside the other, which rotate around two different axes at a speed of 60 seconds per rotation, forming a sphere in perpetual motion.
The support mechanism was developed respecting the precise dimensions of the Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail's dashboard compartments. Designed to be removable, the support allows the watch to be rotated 180° to set, wind and admire the back of the calibre. The slightly curved outer frame of the support is made of polished steel, with an inner frame of angled steel, laser-textured with a black PVD coating.
The watch is attached to a white gold base, adorned with a handmade guilloché soleil motif with an applied Maltese cross. The stand has a steel cover, secured with a padlock in the shape of a Maltese cross.
