It’s been said that some creations are the more incredibly ingenious and elegant for the simplicity of their designs. If that’s so, what exactly do we say about the mind-boggling intricacy of a timepiece 260 years in the making?
Vacheron Constantin sank eight years into designing and building the Reference 57260 Pocket Watch in commemoration of the manufacturer’s 260th anniversary at the commission of a mysterious, publicly anonymous collector. Whoever tasked the venerable master timepiece artisans with its design, our hats are off: the end result is a one-off creation recognized by the recordbooks as the Most Complicated Pocket Watch Ever Made.
How complicated is it? The Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260’s namesake 57 “complications” – functions that go beyond measuring hours, minutes and seconds, to those of us still wearing incredibly durable Casio digital watches – currently being revealed piecemeal on the Vacheron Constantin website nearly lap the formerly record-holding Patek Philippe Caliber 89 pocket watch’s 33. So far, the world knows about 27 or so revealed complications, with more to be unveiled in the coming months. Now, secure your jaw before reading this next part, because this is where the engineering truly becomes an incredible feat: every single complication you can read about HERE as listed by aBlogtoWatch’s David Bredan functions on mechanisms no more complicated than springs, gears, and cogs.
Tragically for now-salivating collectors with sweaty palms at the faintest prospect of ever touching one, Vacheron Constantin hs truly made a once-in-a-lifetime watch. This was built to be strictly unique with one patron’s collaboration to create a pocket watch worth of over two-and-a-half centuries of pristine, artistic craftsmanship.
