Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Complete Calendar now in Pink Gold (SIHH 2018)

Vacheron Constantin’s Traditionelle Complete Calendar Collection Excellence Platine, released just ahead of the SIHH, was already a pleasing novelty, albeit an expensive and limited one. The platinum model, with its great calendar display, is now flanked by a model in lustrous pink gold for the SIHH 2018, as a serially-produced piece in the collection.

It is reassuring to see that Vacheron Constantin’s commitment to the classics is as unwavering as the brand’s commitment to extraordinary quality. The Traditionelle family, designed to perpetuate the “traditions of Genevan Haute Horlogerie”, is, as you would expect, classic to the core with round cases in precious metals distinguished by the knurled bezel on the case back and elegant tapered Dauphine hands. Depending on the complications involved – ranging from minute repeater tourbillons and perpetual calendars to world timers and straightforward three-hand pieces – the stylistic features on the dial can alter quite dramatically in the Traditionelle family.

What a difference a face makes

In contrast to the sober, austere elegance of the platinum Complete Calendar, the 41mm pink gold iteration glows with warmth and light. The opaline silver-toned dial of the Traditionelle Complete Calendar evokes a classic mood and provides a luminous legible background for the functions on board. Its counterpart, the platinum model, with its monochrome sand-blasted dial has a much more contemporary, slightly chilly presence.

The applied and faceted gold hour and minute markers (known as bâtons de Genève) are indicated by gold sword-shaped Dauphine hands and, if you want to get a feel for what ‘quality finishes’ look like under a loupe, head over to the official Vacheron Constantin webpage and check out the dial of this beauty with the magnifying glass option.

Calendar layout

The Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle Complete Calendar – or Triple Calendar/Full Calendar as it also known – displays the date, the day and month and, like all complete calendars, requires an adjustment five times a year (at the end of 30-day months April, June, September and November, and February). In addition to the calendar functions, the watch displays a highly accurate moon phase indicator that will only need an adjustment once every 122 years.

Thanks to the symmetry of the dial, consulting the information is straightforward. The date is relayed on a peripheral chapter ring and indicated by an additional hand differentiated by its black colour and the crescent-shaped moon at its tip. Placed just above the equator of the dial, and closer to the railway minute track than the centre, the day of the week and month are displayed in rectangular apertures. In addition to the complete calendar, the Traditionelle is equipped with a moon phase indicator placed at 6 o’clock. Charting the cycles of the moon – represented in pink gold – with extraordinary precision, the age of the moon is also relayed with the Arabic numerals framing the counter that run from 0 to 29½.

Calibre 2460

Calibre 2460 QCL, a mechanical automatic movement developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin, keeps the hours, minutes, central seconds, complete calendar and moon phase and age in perfect synch. It is the same movement fitted the platinum version of the Traditionelle Complete Calendar and the same movement featured in the cushion-shaped Harmony Complete Calendar. Beating at a frequency of 4 Hz, the 308-part movement has a power reserve of 40 hours. The spectacular 22-karat gold oscillating weight and the Haute Horlogerie finishes on the movement can be admired through the sapphire crystal case back. Certified with the Hallmark of Geneva and fitted with a dark brown alligator strap with a pink gold buckle, the Traditionelle Complete Calendar in pink gold will retail for EUR 39,300 (compared to the EUR 68,000 required for the platinum version).

For more information, visit vacheron-constantin.com.