Five of the Most Important Watches Produced by Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers Department
Although Vacheron Constantin has taken custom timepiece orders throughout its 260+ years of history ? James W. Packard and Henry Graves Jr. were both notable patrons of that offer in the early 20th-century ? the Geneva-based brand’s elite division of watchmakers known as Les Cabinotiers wasn’t officially established as its own division until 2006. While often operating in a sub rosa fashion to the rest of the firm’s operations, Les Cabinotiers attracts only the most affluent and esoteric of clients, and strives to achieve the highest levels of contemporary haute horlogerie.
The name comes from a reference to Geneva?s most gifted watchmakers of the 18th century who plied their trade in workshops, known as cabinets, placed in the cramped attics of the tallest buildings so that their workspace would be bathed in natural light for the longest portion of the day. These consummate craftsmen would receive orders from dignitaries across the European courts to build bespoke timekeepers for them that could convey their prestigious professional and social standing. Today?s Les Cabinotiers department is directly influenced by what its Age of Enlightenment forebears were accomplishing. This is where Vacheron Constantin is able to operate to its full capacity and produce custom, one-of-a-kind timepieces that not only advance horology as a whole, but strengthen its relationships with its clients, who, by commissioning a watch, are taking part in a centuries-old trad...
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