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拍品專文
Part of a limited edition of 20 pieces, the present timepiece is a remarkable Vacheron Constantin yellow gold ‘Mercator’ with awesome cloisonné enamel dial depicting Germany and parts of surrounding countries.
Cloisonné enamel dials quite naturally take a prominent position in terms of beauty, craftsmanship and rarity. Made by the very finest craftsmen in Vacheron’s ‘Metiers D’Art’ workshops, the artist has created the outline of the countries by arranging thin gold wires on a the dial plate. These partitions, called ‘cloisons’ in French, were filled with small quantities of enamel powder in the desired colour. The dial was then fired in an oven at high temperature causing the powder to melt, once the first firing was completed, the artist then painted in the details of the design and the dial would then be fired again. Finally it was hand-polished until a perfectly flat surface was obtained. The ‘Mercator’ model was an inspired choice for an enamel dial such as this because the watch design means that almost the full surface of the dial is available to receive unencumbered decoration.
Vacheron Constantin Mercator
A revelation when it was released in 1994, this highly distinctive model was originally made to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the 16th century cartographer Gerardus Mercator. The traditional method of showing hours and minutes was abandoned and instead the time is shown via a double retrograde mechanism with hands in the form of a pair of cartographer’s dividers. When the hour hand reaches 12 and the minute hand reaches 60, the respective hand ‘flies’ back to its starting position.
Cloisonné enamel dials quite naturally take a prominent position in terms of beauty, craftsmanship and rarity. Made by the very finest craftsmen in Vacheron’s ‘Metiers D’Art’ workshops, the artist has created the outline of the countries by arranging thin gold wires on a the dial plate. These partitions, called ‘cloisons’ in French, were filled with small quantities of enamel powder in the desired colour. The dial was then fired in an oven at high temperature causing the powder to melt, once the first firing was completed, the artist then painted in the details of the design and the dial would then be fired again. Finally it was hand-polished until a perfectly flat surface was obtained. The ‘Mercator’ model was an inspired choice for an enamel dial such as this because the watch design means that almost the full surface of the dial is available to receive unencumbered decoration.
Vacheron Constantin Mercator
A revelation when it was released in 1994, this highly distinctive model was originally made to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the 16th century cartographer Gerardus Mercator. The traditional method of showing hours and minutes was abandoned and instead the time is shown via a double retrograde mechanism with hands in the form of a pair of cartographer’s dividers. When the hour hand reaches 12 and the minute hand reaches 60, the respective hand ‘flies’ back to its starting position.