Sound Systems

The world of music inspires Vacheron Constantin’s latest bespoke Les Cabinotiers creations

Alvin Wong

If you’ve ever wondered how it feels to be an elite connoisseur of horology in all your single malt-sipping, silk bathrobe-wearing glory (we jest, but you get the picture), you can start by casting your sights upon Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers watches. Simply the best and most exclusive timepieces money can buy from the world’s oldest running watch manufacture, the Les Cabinotiers watches are strictly oneof-a-kind; made either to its affluent clients’ exacting specifications and standards, or on the brand’s own initiative to demonstrate the outrageous lengths that it is willing to go in the fields of technical and artisanal watchmaking.

Started in 2006, the Les Cabinotiers Atelier comprises a crack team of master watchmakers and artisans that would work only on commissioned projects conceived with - and directly signed off by - Vacheron Constantin’s clients. The idea is to allow its clients to dream big, while circumventing the lengthy R&D processes that come with series-produced collections. Naturally, this concept lends itself only to the loftiest of timepieces that entice the wealthiest and most demanding customers.

“With Les Cabinotiers, you can’t tell every client, ‘You’re going to wait four years to get your watch’,” said Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin heritage and style director, in an interview with WatchTime.com.

Even so, some customers are happy to extend their patience. One such client is the privileged owner of the Reference 57260 pocket watch. Described by the brand simply as “a major watch collector”, the anonymous client worked with the Les Cabinotiers division to create the world’s most complicated mechanical timepiece, a gargantuan dual-faced pocket watch comprising 2,826 parts that drive 57 complications. The Reference 57260 took the Les Cabinotiers team eight years to make and was delivered in 2015, on Vacheron Constantin’s 260th anniversary.