Vacheron History & 1940 Vintage Pocket Watch

Vacheron Constantin is one of the oldest continuously operating watch manufacturers in the world. Founded in 1755 by Jean-Marc Vacheron, who was both a talented young watchmaker and a good businessman (an unusual combination), Vacheron quickly established a reputation for producing finely crafted watches, including some of the first "complications" and the first engine-turned dials.

-Marc's son, Abraham Vacheron, took control of the family business in 1785. Abraham directed  the company through the turbulent years of the French Revolution and was succeeded in 1810 by Jaques-Barthélemy Vacheron, who became the first person within the company to export  the company's watches to European countries such as Italy, and France.  It was Jaques-Barthélemy who foresaw the companies’ future expansion within the markets, he was well aware that a partner would be needed to execute this. He later formed a partnership with François Constantin in 1819, and the company became known as Vacheron & Constantin. François Constantin, whose job was primarily sales and marketing, was a world traveler seeking new possible markets for Vacheron & Constantin’s company. Constantin then began distributing watches throughout North America which brought more attention to the incredible watches.  It was Constantin who first coined the Vacheron Constantin motto: “Faire Mieux si possible, ce qui est toujours possible” - "Do better when possible, and it is always possible!" The company hired Georges-Auguste Leschot in 1839, he was one of the true pioneers of European watch production. Leschot's interest was in the application of mechanization and standardization to horology, and is credited with helping to develop the ebauche system of watch manufacturing and the standardization of watches into calibers, or otherwise known as ‘standard size’.  Before Leschot, essentially every component of the watch was formed cut and finished by hand,  which made every finished watch a "one of a kind" piece. There was no interchangeability of parts as each piece was hand-fitted to the watch and was slightly different than the same piece in the next watch. 

Leschot's contribution was in the design of machines which could produce parts of sufficient quality and precision that they could be used interchangeably across multiple watches, with minimal hand-finishing. (note that parallel efforts were taking place in America, under the guidance of pioneers like Dennison). The greater manufacturing efficiencies achieved by Vacheron allowed them to become a major supplier of components and raw ebauches to other manufacturers, and this contributed greatly to the company's survival and growth during these challenging years. It can be said that Leschot helped transform Swiss watchmaking from a handcrafted, cottage industry to modern mechanized production.

After the death of Vacheron in 1854 and Constantin in 1863, the company was run by a series of Vacheron or Constantin heirs. The name of the company was changed in 1877 to "Vacheron & Constantin, Fabricants, Geneve," and in 1880 the company adopted the use of its iconic "Maltese Cross" logo (inspired by the maltese-cross stopworks piece which is sometimes used within the watch to limit mainspring travel). It was not until 1970 that the "&" would be dropped from the name.

In 1938, Jaeger-LeCoultre acquired a partial ownership position in Vacheron Constantin, and George Ketterer (a Managing Director of the holding company which owned JLC and a portion of VC) took the helm at Vacheron. George Ketterer or his son Jacques ran VC until 1987 when they became part of the Richemont Group, one of the largest Swiss luxury-brand conglomerates. Richemont currently owns the following watch brands: Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Sohne, and Panerai.

 

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This elegant Vacheron Constantin Ultra Thin Pocket Watch is in 14 Karat Yellow Gold case. This open-face key-less pocket watch has a smooth round bezel and double case. The movement has 19J 8 adjustments temperatures mechanism stamped by Vacheron Constantin. The mechanism is approximately 37 mm diameter, the movement number is 373371. The white enamel face has a black painted Arabic numerals and bronze style matching hands. The approximate Case Diameter is 43 mm and 51 mm including the hook. The case thickness is approximately 10 mm. The weight is approximately 57.7 grams. The double case number is 14502.

 

The watch comes with 2 years warranty and $10,000.00 insurance value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 APR57

 

The above item  comes with a FREE Certified Insurance Appraisal valued at $10,000.00