Vacheron Constantin

Vacheron has been my favourite brand for years...However, I'm sad to say the Vacheron chapter of my watch journey has now ended. Here's the story (warning: not for the faint of heart WIS):

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Vacheron Constantin, You Can “Do Better”

There’s a moment every collector looks for — when a brand doesn’t just impress you, but resonates with you. For me, that brand was Vacheron Constantin. I was all in. I sold my Lange Datograph — a personal grail — to buy a Cornes de Vache. I gifted a vintage 222 to my wife. I even picked up matching Overseas models for my baby daughter and myself. Vacheron's designs, their proportions, their wearability — they’re nothing short of extraordinary.

For a long time, I was willing to overlook the less-than-stellar service experiences. A little boutique indifference here, some slow customer service there — none of it mattered when I looked down at my wrist. I loved my Vacherons. That was enough. Until it wasn’t. It started with a simple request: I visited the Toronto boutique last year to request a half-link for my Overseas bracelet. The watch had to be sent in for verification. Fine. It came back with the link installed — but a few days later, the bracelet clasp mysteriously broke. We sent it back again. A couple of months later, a new clasp was installed, but this time I noticed the time and date were wrong and the crown no longer wound smoothly — strange for a quartz piece that should not have had anything besides the bracelet adjusted. A few weeks after that, the watch stopped working altogether.

Back to service it went. This time, I explicitly requested no polishing — in writing, and again via email from the boutique associate to be certain. The message couldn’t have been clearer. Four months later, I picked up my Overseas — and immediately saw it had been refinished. The case, once filled with the scratches and marks of time spent with my daughter, was now sterile and new. It no longer felt like my watch. The boutique associate apologized, confirmed the mistake, and promised to file a complaint. But the damage was already done — not just to the watch, but to my trust in the brand.

Each service visit chipped away at the loyalty I once felt. This last experience shattered it. I no longer feel comfortable sending my watches to Vacheron for service, nor do I feel compelled to add new pieces to my collection. The dreams of another vintage Vacheron, or a new 222, have evaporated — not because the watches are any less beautiful, but because the confidence needed to buy them is gone. Maybe I was unlucky. Maybe this was a series of unfortunate mistakes. But for me, the result is the same: Vacheron Constantin has lost my trust.

To any collector considering a Vacheron, I say this: treasure the watches, but know the risks. And to Vacheron Constantin: Your own motto says, "Do better if possible, and that is always possible." Please, live up to it. You can do better. And we want you to.

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If you'd like to support my efforts in letting Vacheron know they cannot just let bad service slide, please feel free to comment on my Instagram post where I'm hoping to capture Vacheron's attention. I don't want anything from them except to have them hold their service people accountable when they don't live up to the expectations of their own motto.