Vacheron Constantin

JWU
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Talking about eye candies …

Hi all, my fellow VC enthusiasts, 

An recent article in WSJ mentioned the Mercator watches, and specifically the one with Chinese zodiac symbols, which is this:

But, we all know that Mercator watches are much more than this, and,  while it is beautiful and personally I like it very much and I’d seize the first opportunity to make it mine, I'd dare to say that this is not a typical Mercator watch.

Let’s see some historical account.

This old man we see here is Gerardus Mercator (1512 –1594):

" ... a Flemish cartographer who in his quest to make the world “look right” on the maps developed new projection (called Mercator projection) using mathematical formulas. From then on, the image of the world that he produced on his map from 1569 becomes a conventional view of the world that we are accustomed today. It is worth noting that scientists at the US Geological Survey have designed a Space Oblique Mercator Projection -- which is based on the Mercator’s projection -- that allows mapping from satellites with very little distortion..." (Source: Wikipedia)

Here are some maps he drew:

Map of Europe:

(Source: Wikipedia)

World map:

(Source: Wikipedia)

VC’s "Mercator" series was first launched in 1994 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the cartographer’s death. With its dial representing various continents, regions or countries, with double retrograde function, and housing the slimmest automatic cal. 1120, Mercator has become since the object which a big number of collectors pursue with enthusiasm.

Mercator had regular productions with white gold or yellow gold dial, here are a couple of them:

Mercator Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia in yellow gold and platinum:

Mercator Americas in yellow gold and platinum:

An extremely beautiful cloisonné enamel dial is used in limited editions for special occasions or by special request. Here are a few of them, from 1994 to 2000.

Mercator Asian Pacific Rim, c.1994, limited to 26 pieces:

Mercator The Americas, limited to 12 pieces,

Mercator Germany, c. 2000, limited to 20 pieces:

Mercator Penincula Italica, c. 1996, limited to 2 pieces:

VC’s Mercator series is a perfect example of the wonderful combination of haute horlogerie and arte and history, which this house is capable to offer. Let’s hope that this year VC surprise us with more.

Enjoy!

Jian

PS: All pictures shown here, when not specifically credited, are borrowed either from Antiquorum or VC Forum Gallery.