If you were asked which would be more impressive, it would be difficult to choose the La Couète du Teme Thames Clock, presented at the Louvre in Paris, and the staff of Vaccheron Constantine, who will be performing an incredible music and dance show at the Geneva Maker the following day. “VC” began celebrating 270 years of uninterrupted watchmaking history with watches and wonders earlier this year, culminating in the announcement of a 6,293-part masterpiece that is not on sale, but not on sale from September 17th to July 12th. It took seven years to develop. The Métiers D’Art homage to The Quest of Time is a 20-piece limited edition, double-sided wristwatch that pays LaQuête Du Temps an aesthetic and technical homage. 270 years later, Vacheron Constantin will reach beyond watchmaking.
Vacheron Constantin’s relationship with the Louvre began with the restoration of Pendor Lacre Océoch Dumond, an astronomical clock presented to King Louis XVI in 1754 in 2016. A unique, special Les Cavinetier watch auctioned in 2020 as part of the Louvre auction and the bid for Metiedo Art – a homage to the great civilization collection of 2022.
Vacheron Constantin reaches beyond watchmaking: LaQuête DuTemps is more than a mechanical masterpiece
Not only did VC watchmakers and art and craft experts technically reach for heaven, but this La Couète Dume concept – the French for “The quest for time” – astronomical clocks/automata and their aims also thrilled, perhaps beyond clocks.
Reading the following will surprise your brain. Characterized by 23 complications, LaQuête DuTemps took seven years to develop. There are 6,293 mechanical components, including 2,370 on the clock and 1,020 on the external. Eight watchmaking patent applications have been filed for Automata, featuring humanoid figurines that create 144 gestures.
To provide size ideas, VC’s Style & Heritage Director Christian Selmoni stands next to Lacète Dutémpus
It still does not do justice for creative justice at 250kg, 1m high and 50cm wide. LaQuête DuTemps is the result of integrating automata into a clock. Automata dates back to ancient Greece and Persian empires, but there is no record of automata with integrated timekeeping capabilities.
Help a little from a friend
LaQuête DuTemps shows humanoid figures who communicate time like dancers in retrograde ways. Just a few minutes on your right arm and left. The idea began as an object 35cm tall and became what it is today thanks to the help of François Genode, who was recognized in many watchmaking as the world’s best automaton manufacturer. He worked with the renowned watchmaker L’épée 1839 to create the watch mechanism and casing.
The astronomers at the Geneva Observatory helped tell the last, heavenly tale. VC Master Artistan dedicated his professional skills to the artistic decoration of mechanical wonders. For example, there is a marketplace of rock crystals at the base, and the cabinets of the automaton mechanism show decorative elements set with rock crystals, quartz and lapis lazuli.
The creation shows nine additional systems, including four civil time signs, six permanent calendar functions, three moon displays, five astronomical instructions, five astrological signs, and five additional functions including gravity control time and minute indicators on the clock.
What is it?
LaQuête DuTemps is a timeless creation. It is the only object of this kind, and there is no second object in the future. It is of course a crown jewel of the 270th annual novelty, and of course not on sale, as the VC created because the company felt the need to do so. It will be another object. Even one-off pieces made at the Cabinotiers workshop for demanding brand clients are ultimately “just” watches. But LaQuête DuTemps is an eternal work. No one can buy it and it remains in the brand.
LaQuête DuTemps is not a typical product of our time. It may have been created in the 17th century, but it may have come to us from the future. But it is also an indication of strength that sends a message to the world of watches. Vacheron Constantin has spent years and enormous amounts of money creating something the world of watchmaking has never seen before. It will then debut as the center of an exhibition at the Louvre, perhaps the most famous and famous museum in the world. Automaton clocks have been recognized and approved by cultural institutions. This goes far beyond carrying the characteristics of Geneva. LaQuête DuTemps transcends the parallel world of horology and becomes reality.
Interesting figurine
What the VC did is on a different level in so many ways. This is a confident show about what the brand can do and may tremble the thorns of Vacheron Constantin’s competitors. What trembled in my spine was a nearly alien-like humanoid figurine in cast bronze, made up of eight parts and plated in yellow gold, cleared in five positions. Its body shows hand-carved constellations and 122 glorious diamonds, creating an alien appearance. Animated with tungsten cables attached to sensor porbes and driven by cams, the figurine has a look that makes you think of something from a realistic sci-fi movie. It has a somewhat superior aura and could have been sent to us from a distant galaxy.
A musical sequence created by two instruments – a metallophone and a wawah tube controlled by a barrel-powered gear train that animates the automaton character, complete the cinema shooting experience.
The clear tone is the soundtrack for scenes from other worlds and doesn’t leave you untouched. Whether you consider LaQuête DuTemps as a mechanical masterpiece, a show of power, or an art object, it will make your brain function.
Wrist homage: Metier d’art homage to the quest for time
Métiers d’art’s homage to the quest for time was not found in the Louvre, as it is a commercial limited edition of 20 watches. It took me three years to create this double-sided watch. It features a new, manually created caliber 3670 consisting of four patented applications and 512 components.
The 43mm White Gold Watch features a retrograde time display with continuous and on-demand display modes. There is also a double retrograde power display that shows a 6-day power reserve with two sequential displays, 6-3 and 3-0. Additionally, the clock includes a 3D-precision lunar phase indicator indicating the age of the month. The reverse dial on the Poinçon de Jenève certified watch features a sky chart that displays star dates and tracks accurate constellations of variations up to 1 day in 9, 130 years.
Humanoids, who convey time with their arms, appear to stand in the center of the universe. In honor of the 270th anniversary of Vacheron Constantin, the celestial vault behind the figurine shows the constellations that appeared above Geneva on September 17, 1755.
Amazing facts, figures, figurines
If you would like to know more about LaQuêtedu Temps and/or Métiersd’ArtTime of Time of the Keoks from a Sechincipective, please visit the official Vacheron Constantin website. This brand offers all the incredible facts and people about dimensions, materials, components and figurines. If you would like to talk about astronomical clocks/automata and/or wristwatches, please see the comments section below.
You can also revisit the dilemma from the beginning of the article. LaQuête DuTemps is an object, unlike what I saw, and it blows me away. But so did Vacellon Constantine present himself during the last four days of celebration. The brand demonstrates its status as a united entity driven by passion, dedication and vision. It is a power that everyone in the world of watches is considered.
