Vacheron Constantin

Hi fellow purists, Who of you can tell me a bit more about the below Vacheron Constantin watch from around 1933? I am especially looking forward to your input, tick-talk Thank you so much and best regards, LX ...  

it's the first time I see the watch but I totally love the design! Cheers, Filip

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the caseback and bezel are screwed on

Was it a prototype? If it was for sale, how many were made and sold? etc.

idea on numbers produced. At the time VC was making only a handful of watches so I would expect this piece to be quite rare

I agree 100% with all answers of Alex.

This distinctive screwback waterproof case design with the 10-sided bezel was a 1932 patent of Taubert & Fils case manufacturers in Geneva, and was used by V&C and others. Taubert may not be a familiar name but they took over the famous Borgel wat...  

I was unaware of this casemaker before. You having shown me this information is exactly why I like this forum here so much. A lot of very knowledgeable and friendly people! I would be happy to also share the link below which I just found - based on your p... 

he is a great example how one can through diligence, enthusiasm, and dogged research, become the content expert in his area of interest; namely Borgel.

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That's to be considered... But I love it. I know nothing about it. The design is really striking.

"The Hour Lounge, Alex Ghotbi, 2. August 2012, ... 1933 – Photo reference 3388, Vacheron Constantin’s first water resistant wrist watch (thanks to its screwed on case back and bezel) and certainly a piece which inspired directly the Overseas. Housing a 12...  

Alex's article; The Evolution of Vacheron Constantin Sports Watches, from March of 2009 says the following about the Taubert-cased V&C: 1930-1977 During this era we can’t really talk about sports watches from Vacheron Constantin but the brand did prod... 

I reffered to Alex's article 'Vacheron Constantin and the Tonneau 100 Years of Creativity Part 2' from 2012 published at , since he had access to the V&C archives at that time. Therefore the indication of the year and the reference number. Vacheron &... 

There is one further source which described the example as follows: Antiquorum N°128 - 13 novembre 1994 - Lot N°134 "Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, No. 397862, case No. 258659, sold to Mr. F. de Groot on 20 July 1933. Very fine and extremely rare, early, ...  

Check this source ... So nothing 'obscure' about this watch at all. The only obscure thing is, it was not sold initially. The insight for the aficionados, I would recommend to get on highly alert if you encounter a steel version. Cheers.

I'm not disputing the material published in World of Vacheron Constantin, only asking for clarification if you are stating that only one gold-cased piece was made and nothing in steel? For me it suggests that both steel and gold Taubert-cased watches were... 

confirms the ref 3388 cases were obtained from Taubert in both steel and gold. Cheers,

The watch was in the Antiquorum auction in Geneva on 13th of November 1994. It is well known this auction was held by Antiquorum in cooperation with Vacheron & Constantin. Any of the watches in this auction came with certificates from the Vacheron Archive... 

The object of our fraternity is knowledge, after all. Ask Christian, then Mr. Ferla, but they will just go back to the guy in the Heritage Dept who has already spoken. FWIW, Antiquorum is not without mistakes; recall the infamous George V aviators watch f...