Vacheron Constantin marks 270 years with a double-sided astronomical masterpiece

Vacheron Constantin is older than the United States, but it’s not in the mood for cake and candles.

To mark its 270th birthday, the Swiss watchmaker has shrunk an observatory into something you can strap to your wrist.

One face is theatre – a sculpted figure throwing its arms to mark the hours. Flip it over and you’re staring at a live map of the stars.

Only 20 people will ever own it, which makes this less a watch and more a private planetarium on a strap.

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The details behind the Vacheron Constantin millennial star map

Called the Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Quest of Time, the watch is a 43mm chunk of white gold hiding a brand-new caliber built from 512 parts. 

It runs fast at 5 Hz and still manages six days of power thanks to three barrels working in sync.

Vacheron’s also locked in four patent applications. 

There’s a power reserve stretched across twin arcs, a trick system that forces the hands to snap back together at midnight, a moon phase that won’t drift for ages, and a safety tweak that lets you adjust it anytime without breaking the movement.

The showpiece is the automaton figure in the middle. 

Made of titanium and patinated by hand, it lifts its arms across retrograde scales.

You can leave it running like normal hands or keep it still until you tap a pusher and watch the arms spring to life. 

They whip back so fast – over 37 mph – you could miss it if you blink.

Above that figure floats a spherical moon – half gold and half blue – engraved to catch the light like the real thing. 

Behind it, stacked sapphire dials reveal the Geneva sky exactly as it looked on September 17, 1755 – the day the maison was born. 

Flip the case and the mood changes again. 

A star chart that tracks constellations in real time and stays accurate for thousands of years. 

It’s astronomy you can carry.

Not the only ‘Quest of Time’ this year

This isn’t a solo act. 

Vacheron also revealed a monumental automaton clock, La Quête du Temps, that inspired the wristwatch. 

The clock is a room-filling spectacle, and the watch distills the same idea into a piece you can slip under a cuff.

Retrograde displays are part of Vacheron’s DNA – from quirky pocket watches in the 1930s to the experimental Twin Beat in 2019. 

This anniversary piece feels like the entire playbook rolled into one, updated with modern mechanics.

For Vacheron, milestones aren’t nostalgia trips – they’re proof the brand can still out-create the rest of the field.

For 270 years Vacheron has been chasing time. 

The Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Quest of Time makes it feel like it caught the stars along the way.The post Vacheron Constantin marks 270 years with a double-sided astronomical masterpiece appeared first on Supercar Blondie.