Vacheron Constantin

Under "wooing American interest" I should also mention that VC has engaged someone to independently try and establish a connection, once again, between a watch in their collection and the Wright Brothers.  I believe the verifications should be forthcoming to coincide with the boutique opening.

The watch was found in a Paris flea market and subsequently sold to VC as an interesting vintage watch.  In 2003, a French journalist researching an article to celebrate 100 years of aviation and watches, visited an exhibit at the VC maison and came away with a story subsequently printed in a supplement to Business Montres & Joaillerie.  He declared he had just seen the first aviator's watch, commissioned by the Wright Brothers!  This was later repeated in 2005 by Franco Cologni in The Secrets of Vacheron Constantin (pg. 97).

Having received a fair bit of interest from watch, aviation, and even military historians, this claim was scrutinized and, in later years, dropped from the official narrative.  Nevertheless, it lives again in 2021.  Here is the current case presented on YouTube in a webinar from January, 2021, hosted by the Horological Society of New York.  A 10 minute discussion about this watch begins around 27:00.  Mr. Selmoni fairly describes the earlier story as a "fairytale" from before his time, but wouldn't it be fascinating and ironic if something solid was to come from the current inquiry.

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