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Vacheron Constantin Revives the Past With New Historiques Triple Calendriers and Historiques American 1921


Vacheron Constantin’s Historiques collection, comprised of modern-day interpretations of notable 20th-century timepieces from its 260-plus-year history, adds three more to the stable this year, two inspired by Vacheron Constantin calendar watches of the 1940s, regarded by the brand as the golden age for that complication — the Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942 and Historiques Triple Calendrier 1948 — and one feminine model descended from the heyday of Art Deco, the Historiques American 1921 Small Model.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942 - blue
Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942 with blue highlights and strap

The two Triple Calendar models evoke their 1940s predecessors with their use of aesthetic elements typical of that era, such as the “triple gadroon” casebands on the round cases, “claw-type” lugs, and two-tone dials. Both are driven by manual-winding, in-house-made movements and feature extremely thin bezels framing their box-type sapphire crystals over the dial. Like all watches produced by this venerable, Genevan manufacture, all Vacheron Constantin Historiques models are certified by the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva.

The Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942, in a 40-mm-diameter stainless steel case, takes its inspiration from a watch Vacheron produced in 1942, known as Reference 4240. Echoing the dial layout of its ancestor, the watch has a hand-type date indicator with a peripheral date track, apertures for the month and day, and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. The baton hour and minute hands, as well as the subdial’s seconds hand, are blued, while the calendar indications are printed in either burgundy or dark blue depending on the version. The two-tone silvered dial has a sunburst satin-finished center with an outer zone punctuated by black painted Arabic numerals. Behind the transparent sapphire caseback is the manual-wound Caliber 4400 QC, made up of 225 components, including 21 jewels, and holding a power reserve of 65 hours. The Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942 is offered on either a brown (below) or dark blue (above) hand-stitched alligator leather strap with a half-Maltese-cross-shaped polished steel pin buckle. Both versions are priced at $19,500.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942 - burgundy
Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1942 with burgundy highlights and brown strap

Vacheron Constantin Ref. 4240L, released in 1948, is the inspiration for the new Historiques Triple Calendrier 1948. The “L” in the vintage watch’s name refers to the sophisticated, high-precision lunar cycle displayed in that timepiece’s moon-phase display. Its modern descendant incorporates a moon-phase display with the small seconds in a subdial at 6 o’clock. Housed in a 4N rose gold case, its dial has a silvered opaline center and a sunburst satin-finished outer zone. Inside, and on display through the sapphire caseback, is Vacheron’s manufacture Caliber 4400 QCL, a thin, manual-wound movement with a 28,800-vph frequency and a 65-hour power reserve. Slim, gold baton hands sweep over the dial’s calendar indications which include, as in the 1942 model, a hand-type date indication and month and day-of-the week displays in twin apertures below 12 o’clock. The 1942’s painted Arabic hour numerals are replaced here by applied gold Roman numerals and triangular hour markers. Highlights, including the date track, the month and day text, and the color of the starfield behind the moon, are in either dark blue or burgundy. The former version comes on a dark blue alligator strap, the latter on a brown alligator strap; both are priced at $35,000.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1948 - blue
The Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1948 is available with blue calendar indications and a dark blue strap (above) or with burgundy indications and a brown strap (below).
Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1948 - burgundy
Vacheron Constantin Historiques Triple Calendrier 1948 – burgundy

Inspired by a watch designed in the Roaring Twenties, the Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921 Small Model is the first in the Historiques American series to be offered at the more ladylike diameter of 36.5 mm. Its cushion-shaped case, made of 5N rose gold, is a throwback to the era of its historical predecessor, when such styles were at the height of popularity. The 1920s timepiece that inspired this modern watch was created for an American client with a passion for cars, hence the diagonal tilt of the dial, which was meant to ensure that the wearer could read the time while keeping his hands on the car’s steering wheel — and the necessary 45 degree counterclockwise tilt of the movement, which displaced the crown to an offbeat position between 1 and 2 o’clock, and the small seconds display to its off-centered position between 4 and 5 o’clock. Under a lightly domed sapphire crystal, the finely grained, silver toned dial of the Small Model features black painted Arabic numerals in a period-appropriate style, along with a railroad minute track, and slender, open-tipped hands made of black oxidized 18k gold. The watch is powered by another manual-winding caliber made in-house, Caliber 4400, which is just 2.8 mm thick (for a total case thickness of just 7.25 mm) and stores a power reserve of 65 hours. Priced at $29,200, the watch is delivered on a brown, hand-stitched, saddle-finished Mississippi alligator leather strap and also comes with a second alligator strap in shiny red.

Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921
The Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921 comes on a brown strap (above) and also includes an additional red strap (below).

Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921 - red strap

To read our in-depth review of the original Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921, click here.

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