Vacheron Constantin: Travels & Adornments Exhibition
Art, history and horology have come together in Vacheron Constantin’s Travels & Adornments exhibition, held in Maison Vacheron Constantin on the Quai de l’Ile in Geneva. The exhibition centres on decorations and ornamentations in horology, and showcases some 47 timepieces that were chosen from amongst the 1200 in the manufacture’s private collection. Various decorative techniques […]
Art, history and horology have come together in Vacheron Constantin’s Travels & Adornments exhibition, held in Maison Vacheron Constantin on the Quai de l’Ile in Geneva. The exhibition centres on decorations and ornamentations in horology, and showcases some 47 timepieces that were chosen from amongst the 1200 in the manufacture’s private collection. Various decorative techniques will be featured, including enamelling, engraving, guilloché and gemsetting. Also featured are some techniques that are perhaps less familiar to visitors, like glyptic art, which involves carving on a gem.
The timepieces on display have been organised around four different themes to illustrate several major artistic movements – the East, Greece, Europe and openworking. Exhibits from the East include a champlevé enamel pocket watch from India, dating back to 1831, and an 1824 pocket watch of Ottoman origins. The Greece section of the exhibition displays watches such as one with a reproduction of Hermes on his chariot in enamel, rimmed with a Hellenistic frieze. For Europe, the focus shifts to the Art Deco movement and its obsession with geometry, baguette-cut stones and two-tone colourings. The last portion of the exhibition, openworking, displays various skeleton watches by the manufacture.
You have until the end of October 2014 to get a rare look at cultural influences on watches’ exterior forms. Access to the exhibition is by appointment only, with details as follows:
Maison Vacheron Constantin, 7 Quai de l’Ile, 1204 Geneva
Tel: 022 930 20 05
Here is a preview of some of the pieces on display:
Pocket watch in yellow gold with champlevé enamelled case and guilloché dial (Asia). 
Pocket watch in yellow gold with jade case decorated with glyptic intaglio engraving and rose-cut diamonds (Asia). 
1921 pocket watch in yellow gold and enamel, with silvered dial (Europe).
1939 lady’s wristwatch, in pink gold set with baguette-cut and square-cut rubies with double cord strap (Europe).
Pocket watch in white gold with german silver skeleton movement.
