Vacheron Constantin FiftySix Tourbillon Back in January 2018, Vacheron Constantin introduced a whole new line to its collection of beautifully crafted timepieces: the FiftySix represents a rather obvious attempt to curry favor with the millennial set, which seems to appreciate throwback vintage design and great quality manufacturing as much as the next watch lover. See everything about the first three FiftySix watches called FiftySix Self-Winding, FiftySix Day-Date, and FiftySix Complete Calendar in FiftySix Self-Winding, FiftySix Day-Date, and FiftySix Complete Calendar: So Fresh They Snap! What makes this new line so remarkable, aside from its target group, is twofold: this 263-year-old, traditional Genevan brand doesn’t introduce new watch lines very often – and has never in its entire history introduced gold and steel variations of the same watch at the same time. And it has included a watch in this one that is now the absolute entry level for its entire range: the FiftySix Self-Winding, which comes in at a retail price of $11,700 in stainless steel. As a brand positioned squarely in the “aspirational” stratosphere of the watch industry, this is a remarkable development. Vacheron Constantin FiftySix Tourbillon Now, just nine months after the first trio of watches inspired by a timepiece the brand brought out in 1956 made their debuts, Vacheron Constantin introduces the next timepiece just in time to coincide with a new marketing campaign centering around imagery and storytelling involving a quartet comprising two musicians (Benjamin Clementine and James Bay), a designer (Ora Ito), and a photographer (Cory Richards) that decidedly belong to the millennial set. These particular ambassador choices were made in the service of instilling more emotion and creating a mor tangible connection between the object and the consumer. The brand-new FiftySix Tourbillon generates its own emotions, though, with its visible whirlwind escapement placed at 6 o’clock on the silvered opaline dial that retains all the other design codes of this new line, including the sector style and the “young” font for the numerals. Introducing a major complication so quickly was a very smart move: it serves to include the brand’s existing customers much more. Vacheron Constantin FiftySix Tourbillon from the gorgeous back And it is powered by one beautiful movement housed inside a 41 mm red gold case that is only 10.9 mm in height, making it an ultra-thin that sits elegantly and beautifully on the wrist – any wrist – despite being driven by automatic winding. An absolute visual feast, Vacheron Constantin chose to use its Caliber 2160, which winds the watch’s mainspring using a peripheral 22-karat gold rotor so that it does not block any of the view of the Seal of Geneva-quality finishing that this 188-component movement offering 80 hours of power reserve boasts. Look for it in the spring at a retail price of $113,000. Elizabeth Doerr is the editor-in-chief of Quill & Pad, an online publication that keeps a watch on time.
Vacheron Constantin, the 263-year-old Swiss watchmaker, has added the FiftySix Tourbillon to its range. Retailing at $113,000, the 41mm pink gold case houses the Seal of FiftySix Self-Winding and calibre 2160 movement, with 188 moving parts and an 80-hour power reserve. The entry-level automatic watch in stainless steel costs $11,700, which places the timepiece at the affordable end of fine horology. In January 2018, the company announced that, for the first time in its history, it would launch a line available in both steel and gold cases.