A short Q&A session with Christian Selmoni, the Style & Heritage Director of Vacheron Constantin, offers a rare glimpse into 270 years of uninterrupted horological history and the new Traditionnelle Twin Beat. In this discussion, Selmoni highlights how the maison bridges its profound archival past with contemporary artistic liberty and technical emotion. This is not an exclusive interview and it was offered, in writing, to all publications.
What prompted Vacheron Constantin to follow up on the first Traditionnelle Twin Beat?
The Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar unveiled in 2019 was a concept watch, produced in only a few examples, which reflected Vacheron Constantin‘s research into the power reserve of watch calibres. The dual-frequency solution developed in the Manufacture’s workshops offered a highly convincing solution, with a power reserve extending to more than two months. This patented innovation is appropriate to perpetual calendars as it can reduce, if not eliminate, the need to manually adjust the watch’s functions – which is ultimately the aim of this type of complication. In recent years, as it has become a matter of prime importance to address users’ concerns about issues relating to the power reserve of mechanical watches, it was a natural step for us to undertake further development of Calibre 3610 QP.
What role does innovation play in Vacheron Constantin’s production?
Since the Maison’s founding in 1755, innovation has been at the heart of Vacheron Constantin’s values. It is an integral part of its history, just as much as the aesthetic vision that brings it to life: these two constants are inseparable in their shared pursuit of elegance and functionality. Vacheron Constantin has distinguished itself through its capacity for technical innovation, particularly in the fields of horological complications and ultra-thin watchmaking and, more than a century ago, it pioneered the establishment of a workshop dedicated exclusively to grand complications and creating timepieces that are now part of horological history. More recently, it has distinguished itself with groundbreaking innovations in astronomical and calendar complications, notably with particularly complex Hebrew and Chinese perpetual calendars – true challenges given the irregularities of their lunisolar systems. In 2025, to mark its 270th anniversary, the Maison unveiled a unique astronomical automaton clock, La Quête du Temps, which ranks among the most innovative pieces in the horological world.