Vacheron Constantin

Jean-Marc Vacheron signed his first apprenticeship contract in Geneva in 1755, an act that begins the longest unbroken run of watchmaking in the industry. The house has produced watches every year since — through the French occupation of Geneva, two world wars, and the quartz crisis that killed most of its contemporaries.

The decisive partnership came in 1819, when François Constantin joined Jacques-Barthélémi Vacheron and supplied the motto still carried today: do better if possible, and that is always possible. Constantin travelled Europe selling the watches while Vacheron built them, an arrangement that turned a Geneva workshop into an international house.

In 1839 the company hired Georges-Auguste Leschot, whose pantograph allowed movement components to be made to consistent dimensions. It was among the first serious steps toward interchangeable parts in Swiss watchmaking, and it let the house scale complication work without surrendering hand finishing.

Vacheron is the senior member of the so-called holy trinity alongside Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, and remains the reference for Geneva finishing: hand-applied anglage, the Maltese cross emblem taken from a movement component, and a catalogue running from plain three-handers to the most complicated wristwatches ever assembled. The Overseas, introduced in the 1990s and descended from the 222 of 1977, is the modern volume model.

The house has belonged to Richemont since 1996.

Vacheron Constantin holds 8 models, from £19,950 to £50,950. Half cost less than £31,995, and a quarter less than £29,775. 4 of 8 are automatic. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1755

Jean-Marc Vacheron establishes his workshop in Geneva.

1819

François Constantin joins; the firm becomes Vacheron & Constantin.

1839

Georges-Auguste Leschot introduces the pantograph for consistent components.

1977

The 222 launches, ancestor of the Overseas.

1996

Acquired by Richemont.