2009年新款实物全接触 [复制链接]

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电梯直达

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发表于 2009-2-20 14:12:24 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

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------By Su JiaXian

Vacheron Constantin’s collection this year, whilst small, is probably the best in a long time. No exotic complications unveiled at SIHH; instead VC presented a series of classical watches that are uniformly fine-looking (save for the Overseas which I never really liked).

Oddly enough, most of the new watches presented were in rose gold. Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that rose gold is not quite as popular as it once was, and I expect VC will launch yellow or white gold versions of these watches eventually.

The Historiques American 1921 was previewed before SIHH and when I saw the pictures I thought it was an odd and ungainly timepiece. Boy was I wrong. Inspired by a 1920s wristwatch made for the American market, this watch revisits VC’s tradition as a creator of watches in avant-garde case styles (I am not referring to Urwerk or MB&F).

Measuring 40 mm wide and very slim, this cushion shaped watch is elegance with a twist. I reckon it will look amazing on a lady’s wrist as well. It sits very well on the wrist and the crown is easy to use. The dial is finished in a finely-grained sandblasted texture and paired with black numerals and hands.
It uses the newly developed cal. 4400, a large and thin movement that is just as elegant as the watch and one that I hope we will see more of.

Cal. 4400 in American 1921

New Patrimony Traditionelle models comprise the bulk of the 2009 collection. Five new watches were introduced, ranging from two Lemania-based chronographs to a skeleton ladies’ manual-wind. I like both the chronographs tremendously, they are both far more pleasing to the eye than the equivalent Malte chronographs which I find ungainly. The flared lugs used in the Malte cases look out of place in larger watches, they work best on smaller cases like the original Les Historiques chronograph.

The top of the range is a perpetual calendar chronograph in rose gold. It is a big watch at 43 mm, a full 3 mm wider than the Patek ref. 5970, but VC managed to preserve a calm sense of proportion in the design. A greater feat is the fact that the dial manages to well balanced, there is no perceived clustering of indications in the centre. My only nit to pick is the crown looks and feels small, not only is it undersized compared to the watch, it could be easier to use. Note the smiling moon in the moonphase, something I am glad VC retained.

Lemania-derived Cal. 1141 QP of the perpetual calendar chronograph

At 42 mm the chronograph is slightly smaller but remains equally graceful. In fact I prefer the chronograph to the perpetual chronograph by a small margin. I like the tachymetre scale which gives the dial a bit more detail. And for some strange reason, the crown on the chronograph appears perfectly sized, although it seems to be the same crown as found on the perpetual chronograph. And shock-horror: I would pick this VC over the ref. 5070 as I dislike the wide bezel of the Patek.

Next is the Patrimony Traditionelle 38 mm which uses the same cal. 4400 found in the American 1921. This is plain watch, but its saving grace is the 28 mm movement inside which appropriately sized for the case.

On the whole, VC’s skeleton watches are the best in the industry in my opinion. Certain specific models from other brands are just as good, but the quality of openworking – fineness of the bridges, level of transparency and intricacy of engraving – tend to vary across models in other brands. In contrast, VC skeletons are consistently high quality.

Two white gold skeleton models were presented at SIHH, a 38 mm men’s watch containing the ultra-slim cal. 1120 and a 30 mm ladies’ manual wind with the cal. 1003. Both movements, already decades old, are two of the finest ultra-thins and coincidentally both were originally developed by Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Patrimony Traditionelle Skeleton 38 mm

The ladies’ watch is set with 64 diamonds in the bezel.

Patrimony Traditionelle Skeleton ladies

Last is the Overseas chronograph and dual time, now available in rose gold with white dial, available on either a rubber or alligator strap, or on a gold bracelet.