Vacheron Constantin Historiques Ultra Fine 1955

Hello, this is Tim from the 1916 Company. Welcome and thank you for logging in, if you like this watch. Send me an e-mail to tazo at the 1916 company.com, if you have questions about the prices and availability of this watch. I would like to emphasize that this is something special. It rarely happens that I start with a miniature picture of the watchmaking site, but the watch you see here was worth it. It was launched in 2010 and is a homage to the Reference 6099 from 1955. This model was explicitly launched to celebrate Vacheron Constant for two centuries. Back then, like today, one of the oldest uninterrupted Swiss watchmakers. And although Vacheron Constant theoretically still drew attention to itself in 1955, Vacheron is today the oldest Swiss watchmaker, And with more than a quarter of a millennium, Vacheron has proven its durability, and this design from 1955 does the same. Of course, it is part of the historic collection. So you see the ultra-fine 1955 here, a watch that is a homage to the Reference 6099, which I have unbelievably already discussed on this channel. The watch here, however, is a more modern watch with a diameter of 36 mm. Here you see it in rose gold. It is an incredible 4.1 mm thick and measures 42.3 mm from wrist to wrist with a distance between the wrist bumps of 18 mm. This watch was of course launched in 2010 to celebrate a model that was launched in 1955, but it wears more like a modern watch, in the sense that it does not look like a toy on the wrist. The original is almost too small for the modern taste. And while these have their fans, this watch will delight a wider mass of modern watchmakers. You see, on my wrist with a circumference of 16 cm, it still fits wonderfully, if I pull the wristband pretty tight. A man can wear it, a woman can wear it. Wrists with a circumference of only 13 cm. And if your wrist does not fit over this watch, you have to loosen up in the translated and verbal sense. The watch is super thin. And as you can see, the wristband, which is glued and not sewn, is just like that. We have large, rectangular, symmetrical alligator leather with scales. One of the rarest and most expensive specimens of this beast. Glossy black. And then you can see a folded edge. And it is connected to calfskin at the bottom. So there is no seam, which makes it super thin and clean. No wrinkles, no creases. A brand new Vacheron wristband from the factory. We have a Vacheron dorsal buckle here with the characteristic Malteser cross motif of the company. And then a case that is incredibly thin. You can see here where the wristbands are connected to the case. And then the wristbands themselves are pretty simple. Bended and angular at their ends. We have a bezel that is almost completely flat. There is a multi-sided cross on the crown. And you can see that the shaft tube construction group was apparently welded around the shaft itself. On the back you can now see that it is built up like a normal watch. So it has a conventional housing floor. However, if you look up, you will find that it is a monologue housing. The bezel and the middle part cannot be separated. So everything is loaded through the back and you get this wonderful seamless connection of bezel, wristband and case. So there are no separate components that have to be taken apart. Everything is loaded through the back. The watch is something special here. You have already seen it. So let's talk about the dial and the case first. The dial is very simple. We have golden hands here and you can see that they are elaborately decorated. A silver dial. We have simple indices. You can see that they are not three-dimensional. So everything stays flat. Right in the sense of the theme of the watch. The glass is almost completely flat. And then we have the Malteser cross at the top. The symbol of the company. The profile of the wristbands is similar to the model 1699. However, if you look at my video about the 1699, you will find that this watch is actually significantly different from this one. Although they are similar, I would not call this watch a replica or homage. It is already something unique. It has a unique design. It owes tribute to history without being caught by it. There is a watch fabric in the bottom of the case, which is based on the 803 Cheyer Lulabos designed for Otto Abbe and Vechron. AP brought its version, the 2003, to the market already in 1953. Vechron was waiting for its 200th anniversary and brought its version, the 1003, to the market in 1955. So we are dealing with one of the flattest mechanical watches with a wristband, which was made in the 20th century. It is only 1.64 mm thick and yet it has a five-position setting. This means that it was set to the same five positions, which can also be found on a chronometer. So it is designed to show the time reliably. Genfer seal on clockwork and case. As a reminder, since around mid-2012, the Genfer seal has been considered a standard for high-quality materials, fit and processing of the entire watch, not just the clockwork. The clockwork beats with 2.5 Hz, 18,000 half-vibrations per hour and 18 bearings. This is the caliber 1003 quarter. The clockwork is made of massive gold. The bridges and platinums are made of 18 carat yellow gold, 18 bearings, 31-hour gear reserve, so that you can wear them daily. The processing is really high quality. You can see the bevels on all bearings and screw holes. Beautifully placed by hand on the edge of the bridges. Take a look at the inner angle of the anchor wheel hub. The screw heads are polished with touched slots and circumference. You can see that the click and the click spring are polished high-gloss at the top. We have a sunblasting solarization of the crown wheel core. And then another kind of sunblasting on the lock wheel itself over the spring house. But if you look very closely, it is not easy to see. Look where the two wheels meet. You can see that the teeth have been micro-sharpened. Incredibly difficult to produce. You can also see that the spring house cover has been solarized. And that the bridges have a perfectly aligned grinding disc coating. Which is not applied to the base plate by machining. As well as a high-gloss polished bell holder and a movable index with kiff bump protection and white gold. Really impressive performance here. A traditional center wheel layout. 30 meters of water resistance. So don't take them with you for swimming. But any water resistance at such a thin watch is quite remarkable. Again, 31-hour gear reserve. But honestly, who cares? The pleasure of picking up this watch, which, as I mentioned, can be picked up beautifully, will become an appreciated part of your everyday life. This is Vacheron in its historical best form. Also contact the team at 1916company.com to learn details about the purchase and prices.