Vacheron Constantin «Quai de l’Ile» Pinkgold and Titanium

Vacheron Constantin «Quai de l’Ile» collection had been awarded «The Most Innovative Men’s Wristwatch Collection» title during the «Fashion Olymp – 2010» ceremony in Moscow.

The international award ceremony «Fashion Olymp – 2010» took place on Thursday evening, 11 March, 2010 in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Moscow’s very heart of cultural and business activity, and was attended by the best representatives of the fashion and luxury industry. Only the ever worthy, brilliant and legendary brands were able to conquer the peak of Olymp.

Vacheron Constantin brand-manager in Russia & CIS Nicolas Deflers received «The Most Innovative Men’s Wristwatch Collection» award that was granted to a «Quai de l’Ile» model.

During the ceremony Mr. Deflers stated: «We greatly appreciate the decision to grant Vacheron Constantin «The Most Innovative Men’s Wristwatch Collection» award. This title is a genuine representation of commitment to a perpetual development and innovation which are inherent in entire 255 years of our brand’s uninterrupted history. We express our gratitude to the judgement committee for this honor. Also we congratulate all members of Vacheron Constantin personnel that are involved in creation of this collection».

Nicolas Deflers, Director of Vacheron Constantin Russia

The Quai de l’Ile line was named after the historic Geneva address of the first Vacheron Constantin Manufacture. The revolutionary 7-part construction of the case and middle now allows every Quai de l’Ile watch owner to personalize their timepiece. The dial incorporates the most advanced horological techniques as well as Security Printing technologies, the movements are designed and developed by Vacheron Constantin and are stamped with the Geneva Hallmark. Quai de l’Ile collection is peerless, with its contemporary and innovative timepieces combining the most advanced technologies with the finest horological savior-faire: personalization, security, excellent workmanship and finishing and high quality service.

Fashion Olymp is an international fashion, style and design award which is granted for exceptional achievements in world’s fashion industry. Expert judgement committee comprising of fashion-professionals selects the best from various fashion trends. Fashion Olymp award ceremony is organized by an international TV channel Fashion TV Russia in cooperation with Rodionov Publishing House.

«Fashion Olymp – 2010» award ceremony aims to draw attention to innovative fashion trends, as well as to emphasize the contemporary ideas of the world fashion industry, spotlight the authors of the most brilliant modern achievements and to pay tribute to the legendary and everlasting brands that defy time itself.

CORUM Black Ti-Bridge

Among a selection of forty timepieces, which had already been chosen from a first round selection of more than a hundred novelties launched on the Swiss market between September 2008 and December 2009, the jury has awarded our Ti-Bridge with the Second Prize for the Watch of the Year 2009 award. This competition, organized by Ringier Romandie and Montres Passion magazine, is an essential event of the watch sector. Elected under conditions of total impartiality by renowned jury members, made up of professionals from the watchmaking industry, the Ti-Bridge confirms its reputation in the watchmaking world. Beside Vacheron Constantin’s model «Historiques American 1921», the First Prize winner, the Ti-Bridge stands out among the major references.

The award ceremony of the Watch of Year 2009 event took place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva yesterday. Antonio Calce, in his capacity as CEO, received this prize before an audience consisting of 500 personalities from the Swiss watchmaking industry. He declared with satisfaction and emotion: “I am pleased to receive this award which reflects the pride in my teams, whose talent contributes to the value of Corum today. The Ti-Bridge perfectly embodies the philosophy of Corum; creativity, design and high watch-making content. This timepiece opens a new chapter in the already rich history of the company.”

This award is an important acknowledgment for our brand and a recognition of the repositioning strategy initiated in 2005. With the exclusive caliber designed, developed and assembled in-house and encased in the Ti-Bridge, Corum confirms its watchmaking expertise in high-end movements.

Historiques American 1921 - Vacheron Constantin

Geneva, Thursday October 29th 2009 – Just two years after being awarded the 2007 Watch of the Year Prize (for the Patrimony Contemporary Retrograde Date and Day model), Vacheron Constantin once again takes the top spot on the winner’s podium with the 2009 Watch of the Year Prize, this time for its ‘Historiques American 1921’ model.

Yesterday evening, at the prize-giving ceremony held at the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel and attended by over 500 people, Vacheron Constantin CEO Juan-Carlos Torres had the privilege of being officially presented with the distinction.

l-r: C. Selmoni (Head of Product Development), D. Pradervand (Master of ceremony and Editor in Chief of Montres Passion) and Vacheron Constantin CEO Juan-Carlos Torres

In his acceptance speech, Juan-Carlos Torres stated : “On behalf of Vacheron Constantin, I am infinitely honored to once again receive the Watch of the Year Prize, awarded this year for our Historiques American 1921 model. The jury’s decision rewards and honors the excellence of the watchmaking tradition cultivated by Vacheron Constantin. It is also acknowledges the technical performance and aesthetic elegance of our company, values that have been consistently handed down from one generation to the next for over 250 years. I thank the jury for its choice and I wish to share this prize with my entire personnel.

As far as the award-wining model is concerned, the ‘Historiques American 1921’ has enjoyed instant and substantial success among our customers.

Born of a determination to highlight the wealth of our heritage, its design is inspired by an avant-garde cushion-shaped wristwatch featuring a crown at 1 o’clock, created for the crown in response to the wishes of an American client in during the Roaring Twenties. It blends creativity embodied in the daring style of the 1920s, with rigorous technical sophistication expressed through the new mechanical manual-winding Manufacture 4400 movement bearing the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva to which we are firmly committed.”

Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921

‘Historiques American 1921’

Born of a determination to highlight the wealth of the Vacheron Constantin heritage, the ‘Historiques’ line is intended to revive models symbolising the spirit and expertise of the brand through contemporary contemporary reinterpretations.

After presenting the reinterpreted Chronomètre Royal 1907 on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, in 2008 Vacheron Constantin presented the ‘Historiques American 1921’, a piece inspired by an avant-garde cushion-shaped wristwatch featuring a crown placed at 1 o’clock and confidentially produced for an American client during the Roaring Twenties. In keeping with the spirit of that era, Vacheron Constantin has once again returns to creative roots by combining inventive design with rigorous respect for history in this eloquent tribute to the 1920s.

Radiating classic and understated elegance as well as genuine originality, this ultimate ‘dandy-style’ watch faithfully echoes the original with a 40 mm-diameter cushion-shaped case crafted in 18-carat pink gold and distinguished by diagonal time read-off and a crown positioned at 1 o’clock. The sandblasted dial is graced with 12 painted black Arabic numerals arranged around an equally black-painted railway track minute circle. The hands are in black oxidised 18-carat gold. Topped by a slightly convex sapphire crystal, the case is fitted with a transparent back enabling one to admire the exceptional finishing of the mechanical manual-winding Calibre 4400, developed and crafted in-house by Vacheron Constantin and bearing the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva. Beating at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour, it measures 28 mm in diameter, 2.8 mm thick, and is endowed with an approximately 65-hour power reserve. This new model is water-resistant to pressures of 3 bar – equivalent to 30 metres – and is teamed with a hand-sewn saddle-stitched strap in dark brown alligator leather fitted with an 18-carat pink gold pin buckle shaped like a half Maltese Cross.

Produced in limited quantities, the ‘Historiques American 1921’ is bound to delight connoisseurs and devotees of classic and daring fine watchmaking who are looking for distinctive timepieces and whose horological curiosity naturally draws them to its timeless aesthetic and functional qualities.

About the Watch of the Year Prize

At the end of each year, the French-speaking Swiss press group Ringier and its “Montres Passion” watch magazine present the Watch of the Year Prize, a distinction awarded by a jury of watch industry professionals at an annual ceremony that has become a must-see event.

Jaquet Droz President and Creative Director Manuel Emch and Bengt Brümmer, winner of the Jaquet Droz Prize for Design

Jaquet Droz, the elite Swiss watch manufacturer, is pleased to announce Bengt Brümmer, as the winner of the inaugural Jaquet Droz Prize for Design. Jaquet Droz partnered with Parsons The New School for Design, a global leader in art and design education, to select the undergraduate student who best embodies the spirit and ideals of Jaquet Droz.

The winner was judged by a group that included Jaquet Droz President and Creative Director Manuel Emch, Chief Curator of the Museum of Arts and Design David McFadden, renowned product designer Dror Benshetrit, gallery owner Marc Benda, Whitewall Magazine President Michael Klug, and Parsons Associate Professors Peter Wheelwright and Ken Stevens.

Mr. Brümmer, a Product Design student, stood out in a talented field of submissions with works like the “Pop Bottle” and the “Flameless Cooker”, designed to help in disaster relief efforts. He was awarded the top prize of $5,000.

“Jaquet Droz Prize for Design enables us to give back to the design community by supporting an up and coming designer. This award honors a student who has shown creative execution, technical mastery and an appreciation for craftsmanship.” says Manuel Emch. “I am impressed with Mr. Brümmer’s work and believe he possesses the talent and vision to reshape the future of design, just as Jaquet Droz is redefining the landscape of fine timepieces.”

About Jaquet Droz:

Jaquet Droz Manufacture is situated in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in the same location that Pierre Jaquet Droz chose to establish his company in 1738. Specializing in the Art of Watchmaking, Jaquet Droz has developed the concept of limited production quantities and unique pieces. The dial of the watch represents the DNA of the brand, while the Grande Seconde model, inspired by the 1791 timepiece, is its icon.

Eight years after the company was acquired by the Swatch Group, its success is undeniable. Within the Group, the Manufacture is resolutely positioned within the luxury and prestige segment of the market and is now established throughout the world. Manuel Emch, President and head of artistic creation, has set himself the mission of cultivating this spirit of excellence and innovation, while continuing to communicate the core values of emotion and poetry to collectors. The connection between the Age of Enlightenment and the third Millennium is at the heart of the brand’s creative inspiration. For more information, please log on to www.jaquet-droz.com.

About Parsons The New School for Design:

Parsons The New School for Design has been a pioneer in art and design education for more than a century. Based in New York but active around the world, the school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the full spectrum of design disciplines. Critical thinking and collaboration are at the heart of a Parsons education. An integral part of The New School, Parsons builds on the university’s legacy of progressive ideals, scholarship, and pedagogy. Parsons graduates are leaders in their respective fields, with a shared commitment to creatively and critically addressing the complexities of life in the 21st century. For more information, please visit www.parsons.newschool.edu.

“Best of the Best” Men’s watch 2009 by Robb Report

François-Paul Journe is acclaimed once again for its horological creations of exception; the Répétition Minute Souveraine has been awarded “Best of the Best” Men’s watch 2009 by Robb Report in the USA.

F.P.Journe, with its distinctive label – Invenit et Fecit, (invented and made) stamped on all watches of the collection certify an exclusive calibre, invented, manufactured and assembled entirely in the workshops of its Manufacture in the centre of Geneva. It vouches an authentic and innovative horology in the whole of its conception and symbolises the fundamental values of haute horlogerie.

F.P.Journe is mastering the measurement of time with the first ultra-slim minute repeater and once again raises the bar for striking watches. He has re-invented the minute repeater mechanism in a way which enables strong crystal clear tones to emanate from a seemingly impossibly svelte movement, with a size of barely 4mm, more reminiscent of a simple hand wound calibre than a highly intricate and complex complication.

F.P.Journe - Répétion Souveraine

Two key technical developments have enabled François-Paul Journe to construct a sweet sounding ultra-slim repeater movement. The first is the flat gong, first seen on the F.P. Journe Grande Sonnerie, which produces a louder and clearer sound than traditional gongs. And because the gong is mounted under the dial, instead of around the movement, it allows more room for the movement.

The second is an innovative system of striking racks and strike selection mechanisms which take up much less space than conventional strike mechanisms. These redevelopments have merited the application of two patents.