The creation of striking watches – known to be the most difficult complications to produce – is an art mastered by very few watchmakers. For more than two centuries, the Manufacture Vacheron Constantin has been creating an array of splendid striking watches. In 2013, the Maison unveiled a true masterpiece of virtuosity in which the complexity of the striking mechanism was matched by the additional challenge of creating the thinnest hand-wound calibre and the thinnest hand-wound minute repeater watch on the market, at respectively 3.9 and 8.1 mm thick. Initially introduced in 18K 5N pink gold, at Watches & Wonders 2015 this timepiece appeared clothed in a platinum case – framing a silvered opaline or slate-colored opaline dial – naturally bearing the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva.Particular care was devoted to the acoustics of the Patrimony ultra-thin calibre 1731, since the sound of a striking watch is its very reason for being. Various technical choices were made to ensure a crystalclear and perfectly tuneful tone. The gongs are not only connected to the case middle so as to amplify the sound, but also for the first time stacked rather than placed side by side. The platinum case is shaped so as to form a unified whole with the movement, within a clever composition incorporating such subtle parameters as the airflow between the mechanism and the case, designed to achieve optimal propagation of the notes. Nor does the quest for perfection end there, since the case itself has been built without joints so that the elements can interact metal against metal and thereby enhance the amplitude of the sound, while the flying governor ensures a regular rate of the hammer blows on the gongs.
