The innovative Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar by Vacheron Constantin
Over its 264 years of horological excellence, Vacheron Constantin has established an unshakeable reputation for meaningful innovation in technical and design domains. Share
Defining the future of fine mechanical watchmaking, Vacheron Constantin presents the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar, a timepiece that can adapt to its wearer’s needs. When worn, the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar beats at a high frequency that is aligned with modern active lifestyles, displaying the hours, minutes, date, month, leap year cycle and power reserve on its dial. When the watch is not being worn, its in-house developed calibre 3610 QP can be slowed down in order to guarantee an extended power reserve of at least 65 days.
One of the most basic assumptions of mechanical watchmaking used to be that the energy output of the mainspring barrel had a fixed timespan, with very little deviation from the stated power reserve. The Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar transforms the mainspring into a source of variable energy levels, giving fine mechanical watchmaking a completely new degree of versatility.
Drawing on 264 years of horological expertise, Vacheron Constantin has achieved this innovative coup by giving the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar two balances, each operating at a different frequency that has never been used before by the Maison. A pusher at the 8 o’clock position allows the wearer to easily switch from one frequency to another, depending on activity level. When the watch is on the wrist, the wearer will get the most out of it by keeping it in Active mode, which features a 5Hz (36,000vph) balance and 4 days of power reserve.
If the watch is to be taken off and left unworn for some time, it can be switched to Standby mode, which runs on a second balance with a drastically reduced frequency of 1.2Hz (8,640vph). This allows the maximum power reserve to be extended to at least 65 days. At any point during the Standby mode running time, the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar can be switched back to Active mode and reworn, with all its calendar indications perfectly up to date.
Despite the pedigree of the classic case design in platinum and the prestige of a high complication, the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar deliberately embraces a modern aesthetic take on age-old finishing techniques. Movement plates and bridges are decorated with Côtes de Genève and then treated with NAC, a dark coating that offers superior resistance and durability compared with other similar-looking treatments.
On the dial, the very 18th-century art of engine turning and frosted finish are transmuted into clean radial guillochage and sand-blasted surfaces. In order to perfectly achieve this union of tradition and modernity, the dial is made in two main segments in a multi-stage process. A gold dial segment is decorated with hand-guillochage, and then fitted within an outer segment of sapphire crystal. Gold hour indexes are then set into the sapphire-crystal dial segment, which is further laser-engraved and ink-filled for a sleek, seamless appearance.
This balance of classic case design, combined with contemporary dial and movement aesthetics, complements the underlying theme of the Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar — unequalled historical savoir-faire channelled through timeless innovation.
