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Lot Essay
Accompanied by an undated Vacheron Constantin Certificate of Origin and Warranty, and product literature.
Amongst all complications, minute repeaters are one of the rarest, produced sporadically in vintage watches, and in very limited series in modern watches. Repeating watches were originally produced out of necessity, to tell the wearer the time when it was dark out and they could not read the hands. Early examples would chime just the hour, or the hour and quarter hour, eventually advancing to chime the hour, quarter hour, and minutes past the quarter hour to tell the wearer the exact time down to the minute.
Electricity eventually removed the need for repeating watches, and the complication was only reserved for special clients and a few makers. The first Vacheron Constantin minute repeating pocket watch was created in 1812, and the first wristwatch minute repeater was produced in 1930. In the 1980's, Vacheron Constantin began working on producing a minute repeater with a thin caliber, to be in line with the extra flat repeater movements they had been producing in the 1940's. In 1992 the brand introduced the caliber 1755, at a total of 3.28mm thick, to be used in two versions - a minute repeating wristwatch, and one combined with a perpetual calendar. The cases featured teardrop lugs, and only 200 of these calibers were made total. In 2008, Vacheron Constantin released a skeletonized version in rose gold and in platinum, both in a limited series. The present watch is a fine example of one cased in rose gold, with the celebrated caliber 1755 and beautifully hand-engraved movement bridges and plates.
Amongst all complications, minute repeaters are one of the rarest, produced sporadically in vintage watches, and in very limited series in modern watches. Repeating watches were originally produced out of necessity, to tell the wearer the time when it was dark out and they could not read the hands. Early examples would chime just the hour, or the hour and quarter hour, eventually advancing to chime the hour, quarter hour, and minutes past the quarter hour to tell the wearer the exact time down to the minute.
Electricity eventually removed the need for repeating watches, and the complication was only reserved for special clients and a few makers. The first Vacheron Constantin minute repeating pocket watch was created in 1812, and the first wristwatch minute repeater was produced in 1930. In the 1980's, Vacheron Constantin began working on producing a minute repeater with a thin caliber, to be in line with the extra flat repeater movements they had been producing in the 1940's. In 1992 the brand introduced the caliber 1755, at a total of 3.28mm thick, to be used in two versions - a minute repeating wristwatch, and one combined with a perpetual calendar. The cases featured teardrop lugs, and only 200 of these calibers were made total. In 2008, Vacheron Constantin released a skeletonized version in rose gold and in platinum, both in a limited series. The present watch is a fine example of one cased in rose gold, with the celebrated caliber 1755 and beautifully hand-engraved movement bridges and plates.