You can admit it: how many times have you read about an amazing perpetual calendar watch (we’ve written about quite a few) that touted as a top attribute the fact that it would remain accurate and not need resetting until some year far in the future, most likely after you, the prospective owner, have exited this mortal coil" And how many times have you rolled your eyes at such a boast, realizing how very unlikely, nigh impossible, it would be that any watch would remain in constant use, never unworn, never idle, never in need of a re-wind or re-set, for many decades at a time" Well, Vacheron Constantin unveiled a watch at SIHH 2019 today that makes such a scenario just a little more plausible. The new Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar claims as its highest technical accolade its ability to function closer to “in perpetuity” than any perpetual calendar that preceded it. Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar
The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar, with its innovative and patent-pending mechanism, allows its user to switch the frequency of its movement from active mode, in which it beats at a speedy 36,000 vph (5 Hz), to standby mode, in which it drastically slows to an energy-conserving 8,640 vph (1.2 Hz). The answer to the horological puzzle that Vacheron’s watchmakers took on in their development of the new movement, Caliber 3610 ? the assumed fixed timespan of a watch’s...