Vacheron Constantin Teams With Mr. Porter for New Fiftysix Day-Date Petrol Blue Limited Edition
Ending 2020 with a statement, Vacheron Constantin has unveiled the latest addition to its catalog, an exclusive and limited-edition watch released in partnership with luxury retailer Mr. Porter. The new model, the Fiftysix Day-Date Petrol Blue Limited Edition, uses the now familiar Fiftysix Day-Date unveiled at SIHH 2018 as its base design, with this specific model distinguished by its namesake blue dial. For Mr. Porter, the new watch is the latest exclusive partnership after a landmark year of luxury collaborations, the last being this past summer when it partnered with Jaeger-LeCoultre for the exclusive Master Ultra Thin Kingsman Knife Limited Edition made for the film The King’s Man.
The watch's 40-mm x 11.6-mm stainless steel case is composed of multiple sections and finished with an almost matte polishing. The unique case shape takes its foremost inspiration from a Vacheron Constantin model from the watch’s namesake year of 1956, which itself takes inspiration from the Maltese cross, one of the key historical symbols of the brand. The case is secured to the wrist with a brown leather strap, connected via a distinct set of curved lugs, and fastening with a folding clasp in the stylized shape of a half-Maltese cross.
Underneath the sapphire crystal lay the watch’s faceted petrol blue dial, whose sectored, sunray-finished style has darker colors toward the center and lighter sections closer to its edges. On the outer portion of the face, a white-printed minute ring uses rectangular markers at each five-minute position and simple stick accents in between. This outer ring frames the applied, white-gold indices at each hour, which alternate between lume-filled rectangles and non-luminous Arabic numerals.
In the dial's center, the largest sector is separated from the outer portion by a ring of white printed rectangles, broken up by two indented subdials — one each for the day and date indication, at 9 and 3 o’clock, respectively. A subtle power-reserve indicator occupies the spot just left of the 6 o’clock position. Two elongated, baton-type hands, both with luminous centers, display the hours and minutes, while a simple counterweighted pointer is used to count the seconds.
Inside the Fiftysix Day-Date is the widely praised Vacheron Constantin Caliber 2475 SC/2. The beautifully finished movement is visible via a sapphire exhibition case back, with a solid gold, skeletonized rotor, stylized with another Maltese cross in its center. The self-winding manufacture caliber amasses a 40-hour power reserve, has a frequency of 28,800 vph, and hosts 27 jewels.
The Fiftysix Day-Date Petrol Blue will be available for pre-order, exclusively through Mr. Porter, here. It is currently marked by the brand at $17,400, with only 30 models set for production.
