Métiers d’Art La Symbolique des Laques

The Métiers d’Art La Symbolique des Laques opus is an illustration of the alchemy between the cultural, artistic and Fine Watchmaking crafts. The series relates the encounter between the men of one of the oldest Japanese lacquer firms – Zohiko, located in Kyoto since its founding in 1661 – and those of Vacheron Constantin, the world’s oldest watch manufacture to have been producing continuously since its creation in 1755. True to the spirit of the Métiers d’Art collection, the La Symbolique des Laques series is created over three years; each year presents a new set of three watches in a limited series of twenty.

The “Kame (turtle), Kaéru (frog), Koi (carp)” watches, dedicated to the aquatic realm, present animals selected from the vast symbolic legacy of Far Eastern artistic traditions. Incarnations of longevity, luck and strength, the turtle, frog and carp disclose their attributes in stylised waters on the enamelled dials. No fewer than four months were required to make each one. Each animal lends a powerfully symbolic face to the passing of time orchestrated by the openworked version of Calibre 1003, the world’s thinnest hand-wound mechanical movement, at only 1.64 mm thick. Made in 18K gold, hand-chamfered and showcases a ruthenium finish, this caliber bears the Hallmark of Geneva.

The art of maki-e has come down through the ages without losing either its personality or its rarity. Its technical mastery is crowned by a symbolic aura that anchors it even more firmly in the collective memory, Japanese history, and the world’s artistic heritage. Each pattern depicted – whether animal, vegetable, or mineral – tells a story. In combination, they are transformed into attributes and point back to age-old legends and literary or poetic works. This year, the theme of longevity is the thread that ties the three new watches together, but more symbolically, which bears witness to the continuity of the arts and of cultures throughout the world – a continuity that Vacheron Constantin carefully perpetuates in each of its creations.