At this year’s Watches & Wonders, Vacheron Constantin dropped the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication – a mechanical tour de force the likes of which the watch world had never seen.
The question is, how do you follow up the most complicated wristwatch of all time?
Well, you follow it with this: the Les Cabinotiers Temporis Duo Grand Complication Openface. No signs of a difficult second album here – this is a straight-up horological flex.
OK, it may not have quite as many complications as the Solaria, but it does have a longer name. And crucially, it unites a minute repeater, a split-seconds chronograph and a tourbillon regulator – a triumvirate of complications that few watchmakers have dared to combine.
Indeed, as Vacheron’s Style & Heritage Director Christian Selmoni puts it, this trio is “a challenge”. Something of an understatement there, Christian. There are good reasons why this combination is typically confined to pocket watches rather than wristwatches, from space constraints to the immense precision required. Even gong resonance poses a problem – a sentence I never thought I’d write. All this is why minute repeaters are more often paired with the comparatively compact perpetual calendar.
At 16.40 mm thick, the Temporis is not exactly slimline, but when you consider the 696 components and 61 jewels that go into making the in-house Calibre 2757 S, it’s still a mind-boggling amount of mechanical complexity to fit under that sapphire-crystal hood.
The watch also bears the prestigious Poinçon de Genève, certifying both its quality and precision. To meet this benchmark, a timepiece must run with a margin of error no greater than one minute after seven days of testing – impressive for a time-only watch, let alone one boasting a split-seconds chronograph.
Vacheron is rightfully proud of this particular complication. When developing the original Calibre 2757, Vacheron specially designed the additional split-seconds chronograph plate with a carefully layered arrangement of components to maximise operational efficiency. This optimisation of volume helped preserve the calibre’s overall thinness and was further supported by the introduction of advanced materials. Some gear train wheels have been crafted from titanium, while others have been electroformed in nickel-phosphorus using a proprietary tooth profile that enhances gear engagement and prevents any shaking of the chronograph seconds hands.
When it comes to uniting this trinity of complications, Vacheron does have form. Three years ago, the Maison unveiled the Calibre 2757 in the single-piece Les Cabinotiers Minute Repeater Tourbillon Split‑Seconds Monopusher Chronograph. But for the Temporis Duo Grand Complication Openface, its watchmakers have developed a new version of the calibre, with a spherical hairspring – this further improves isochronism – and set it behind an open-worked dial, so we can revel in all its glory.
Speaking of glory, it’s only right we end with the finish – or rather, the finishes. The surfaces are bevelled, polished, satin-brushed, grained, circular-grained, engraved and bead-blasted. The result? A captivating interplay of light and texture – a shimmering reminder that in the hands of Vacheron Constantin, mechanical mastery is as much an art form as it is a feat of engineering.
See more at vacheron-constantin.com
