Vacheron Constantin

In my continuing tour of Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony Contemporaine line, I'd like to look at the Retrograding Day and Date, reference 86020. This is the largest of the Contemporaine models, with a diameter of 42.5 mm, and when it first came out in 200...  

In fact, this is probably the first VC watch that I fell for a few years ago. And I had the chance to look at one a coule of weeks ago. I was struck by its beauty, both the outside and the inside. The movement is really gorgeous. I love that rotor and it ... 

I will be interested to see if VC explores any further complications in the Patrimony Contemporaine line. The challenge will be to maintain the elegance of the dial while adding more information (say, in a perpetual calendar). A simple minute repeater, of... 

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I can see you getting distracted by whatever might pop up at SIHH in a couple of months! ;-) Bill

It was on display at my favorite AD. Best regards, Baxter

had a fearsomely high price tag, especially when compared with the standard production models, but the impact of it in person is really hard to overstate. Bill

however, the "Thu" bugs me for some reason. I'd either like to see a full "Thursday" (I know there is not much room there), or all other days abbreviated to match the "Thu". Thank you for the post. --CJ

When this watch first came out I felt like it could have been better (and more complicated) if the day pointer also came from the center axis. Then VC could have executed the days in three letter abbreviations in the same layout as the date arc, but on th... 

Thanks for the great write-up Bill. The vintage piece was something I hadn't seen before. I find the retrograde indicators to be a difficult display to get right, and some presentations achieve more success than others. For showing hours and minutes, I wo... 

One aspect of the retrograding calendar display that is nice is that the arc for the date is longer than a circular pointer display would be, enhancing legibility. I understand what you mean by the challenge in reading the time when the hours and minutes ... 

Agreed Bill, the Mercator's design brilliance elevate it to a grail watch.

It doesn't seem to be appreciated by collectors, but I find the 31-Day Retrograde's dial to be much more attractive and easier to read (particularly the days of the week since it is circular vs. a 2nd retrograde hand). It obviously doesn't have the in-hou...  

when I owned it. I've always been a fan of watches that indicate both the day and date. In the mid-2000's, there were no finer day and date watches than the 47245 and the Jubile 1755. Bill

a 247 at the same time. Did you manage to get one, I didn't and I don't think Alex either managed to get any;-) Still a true masterpiece! Cheers Doc

I got and was happy with the rose gold piece shown in the post above. No regrets, because I soon turned my attention to that skeleton QP! Bill

I remember you said once, long ago, tht when you reached that your collecting was finished Yeah, I know what I havw said too, some of it Once hooked... and I been hokked on silboat for 50 years, started before I was born... This has always been my highest... 

Doc...  

I spent my teenage years taking care of boats. I loved the work, and if it was a slow day I just went fishing off the docks! Bill

you come over to the Old World and have a cruise with me. We got fine fishing waters here, salmon is not bad, smoked and eaten with your fingers! It would really make me happy! BTW have you changed your private email? I written but got it returned, I have...