Embarking upon the new Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers “The Labours of Heracles”, one is immediately reminded why this Genevan Maison endures at the zenith of haute horlogerie and métiers d’art. Celebrating 270 years since its founding, Vacheron Constantin’s singular pursuit of technical excellence and artistic refinement becomes manifest in this quartet of unique timepieces – each paying homage to one of Heracles’ legendary labours: the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Stymphalian Birds, and the Cretan Bull. Les Cabinotiers always sets the bar unapologetically high, but with “La Quête”, they reach new artistic and horological heights.
It is upon the dial that these watches declare their intent. Each presents a visual odyssey—crafted across two meticulously fabricated plates of white gold. The lower sector, occupying the right-hand portion, evokes antiquity and seafaring adventure. Here, artisans have rendered a 17th-century map of Greece through the taille-douce hand engraving technique. Those lapping waves and reliefs, cut directly into the gold, are given life through translucent grand feu enamelling: clear for open sea and shaded grey along shorelines, maintaining just enough restraint to let the precious metal shine through. Land masses, left untouched by enamel, receive further engraving to enhance their contours, a process requiring a laser focus and steady hand, lest the delicate layers of vitreous enamel crack under pressure.
The upper left segment forms both the soul and spectacle of each reference. Against a backdrop of landscape, alive with the swirling drama of opalescent grand feu enamel miniature painting, sits Heracles himself. Not a painted figure, but a micro-sculpted applique in white gold in a study in volume and tension, although less than 0.5mm thick. The engraver’s prowess is remarkable: musculature, expression and the mythic adversaries themselves, every feather and fang, is brought to such realism that mythology seems almost tangible. Each dial is finished with the placing of a polished yellow gold cabochon indicating the precise site of Heracles’ struggle, a subtle nod to Les Cabinotiers’ dedication to detail.
Beneath this artistry sits the movement that so defines “La Quête”: the Calibre 1120 AT. It is a construct of technical ingenuity and restrained architecture. Developed in-house by Vacheron Constantin’s engineers, this mechanical masterpiece is ultra-thin, measuring an elegant 5.45mm in height and 28.4mm across, yet it houses no fewer than 205 expertly assembled components, including 36 jewels. Its singularity lies in the satellite hours display, a patented mechanism in the form of the Maison’s Maltese cross. Three satellites rotate along an hours wheel, each revealing one of four numerals as it arcs across a fixed minutes sector marked in 10-minute intervals along 120 degrees of the dial’s curvature. When an hour completes its transit, it vanishes and the next emerges. There are no hands to interrupt the art, yet time remains always legible.
Vacheron Constantin’s finishing touches on the movement should command respect. The bridges reveal a connoisseur’s assortment of perlage, Côtes de Genève, and hand-bevelling, those time-honoured decorative flourishes perfectly aligned, catching the light and the eye alike. The oscillating weight is another highlight, forged in 22K pink gold and patterned with a tapestry motif inspired by ancient Greek friezes, produced on a lathe guided by a hand-crafted template. It is a process that dates back to 1904, a poetic blend of mechanical precision and handcrafting, conferring a sense of both modernity and ancestry.
The cases, forged in 18K white gold, are as elegant as the movements and dials they contain. Measuring 40mm in diameter and 12.57mm thick, they possess a stately profile, accentuated by Les Cabinotiers’ unique engravings and Geneva Hallmark, the ultimate stamp of quality and legitimacy. Sapphire crystal case-backs reveal the decorated movement within, while the overall water resistance assures that these artistic pieces are not simply objects of reverence but wearable daily. The alligator leather straps from Mississippiensis variety come in sumptuous hues to match the moods of each dial: dark blue, blue, green, and brown. Here again, craftsmanship is paramount, with large square scales, a hand-stitched saddle finish, and white gold folding clasps.
In contemplating these Les Cabinotiers references, one finds Vacheron Constantin’s three-centuries-old philosophy at play in a tireless quest to “do better if possible, and that is always possible”, as François Constantin suggested in 1819. These watches are artefacts not solely of technical might or artistic extravagance; they are expressions of culture, learning, and an unwavering commitment to the transmission of craftsmanship. In them, the myth of Heracles and the legacy of the Age of Enlightenment converge, not in a museum or a fleeting exhibition but upon the wrist: alive, ticking, exquisite.
For those with an appreciation for artistry, history, and horological ingenuity, Les Cabinotiers “The Labours of Heracles” stand as a rare and thrilling achievement. Vacheron Constantin invites aficionados to join a quest bounded only by the imagination, where technical complexity and decorative mastery go hand-in-hand, each serving and elevating the other. In the world of watchmaking, it is these rare confluences that linger in memory and inspire future generations to pursue greatness.
INTERVIEW WITH SANDRINE DONGUY, MARKETING & INNOVATION DIRECTOR
What is the significance of your choosing the Labours of Heracles as the subject of these watches?
First, the story of Heracles, or Hercules as he was known to the Romans, epitomises the concept and values of a quest – the pursuit of a noble and challenging goal, which has also been central to Vacheron Constantin’s identity since the Maison was founded 270 years ago. As an expression of the highest human values, Heracles’s story is one of the most inspiring and enduring of the entire mythological canon, embodying universal themes that have travelled through time and space and continue to resonate today. Second, for Vacheron Constantin, watchmaking has always been intrinsically bound to culture and history – expressed by our partnerships with major cultural institutions as well as the themes we explore through our watchmaking creations. Greco-Roman antiquity is the cultural foundation of our modern world: it had a seminal influence on the Age of Enlightenment, the period when our Maison was founded, and its echoes are still manifested today in countless areas of life, from philosophy to education, science, technology, architecture and various forms of government.
What drove your choice of Calibre 1120 AT for these timepieces?
In our approach to watchmaking at Vacheron Constantin, artistic expression and technical prowess are inseparable, with one acting in service to the other according to the vision for a particular collection. In this case, while Calibre 1120 AT is highly sophisticated and complex, it was created in the service of aesthetic beauty – to indicate the time without conventional hands, leaving the dial as an open canvas for artistic expression combined with an original and visually intriguing display. The two-level dial required by this time display creates both a challenge in terms of designing a visually integrated whole and an opportunity for the designer to create something entirely original. For the Labours of Heracles dials, a sense of place and time has been created through a representation of a centuries-old map on the lower section of the dial, complemented by an evocative landscape on the upper section – both miniature-painted in grand feu enamel. Superimposed on this background, the micro-sculpted white gold figure of Heracles creates an even stronger impression of three-dimensionality and dynamic movement.
Do you have any other details about this piece?
As you know, Les Cabinotiers always strive to include subtle details in their pieces. This time, they wanted to bring forward the location where the task happens, for each piece, on the lower sector of the dial, a tiny (0,4mm diameter) gold cabochon in 18K 3N represents the precise location.
