Hands-On Debut: Vacheron Constantin Patrimony 270th Anniversary Watches
Photos by Ariel Adams
It’s one thing to encounter fine watchmaking first hand. It’s another to encounter it on fine watchmaking’s home turf. With 2025 marking 270 years of continuous watchmaking for Vacheron Constantin, special novelties were expected from the brand, and the new Patrimony timepieces — the Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date and the Patrimony Self-Winding — which debuted this week at Geneva’s sprawling Palexpo, do not disappoint. Available in either 18k white or 5N pink gold, these understated pieces encapsulate what Vacheron does best. Namely, when to get fancy, and when to hold back. When it comes to the latter, few watches can challenge the Patrimony — anniversary year or not.
The new Patrimony watches establish a baseline with the Patrimony Self-Winding. Here, the anniversary pieces present their most defining quality: a geometric pattern designed to evoke Vacheron’s Maltese cross logo which is centered between the 7 and 8 o’clock hour markers. Why this location was specifically chosen is anyone’s guess, but perhaps it’s connected to Vacheron’s twenty-seventh decade. Or maybe it just provided good symmetry. Whatever the reason, the broad canvas of the 40mm timepiece gives space for the lines to traverse mostly unbroken to all corners of the dial. 18kt hour markers are long and slender, with high-polish that matches the geometry and finishing of all three hands but aside from these (and the branding) the dial is devoid of any other adornments. The date window located at 6 o’clock is unframed and houses the date indicator with its elongated numerals that aesthetically match the rest of the dial’s features.
A step up from the three-hand variant is the Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date. Here, the addition of namesake complications provide the dial with both visual interest and it’s first hiccup. Given the visual importance of Vacheron’s special guilloché patterns, the large cutout for the moonphase doesn’t egregiously hurt the dial’s integrity, but it doesn’t help either. It’s not as problematic as the tourbillon perpetual version but the time-only version remains the best looking of the bunch when assessed purely on overall dial appearance. Here, the case has expanded to 42.5mm to accommodate the extra information and the seconds hand has been sacrificed in favor of the retrograde date indicator extending from the central post. Hour markers have been shortened to make space for the arc of date markings. Even after having seen the watches up close, it’s hard to say with full certainty that both pink and white gold versions have the same color dial. Vacheron notes that the Patrimony dials are “silver-tone” and the most likely explanation for any perceived differences is a trick of the eye brought on by the material-matched hour markers that might give the dial a warmer or cooler hue depending on the version at hand.
As mentioned, the two new Patrimonies differ in case diameter by about 2.5mm in size. And while this is one of the few differences between them — they share nearly identical design otherwise — it isn’t the only one. There’s a difference in height here, with the Moon Phase Retrograde Date version coming in about 1mm taller than the time-only variant. This is mostly noticeable when compared side-by-side, but that’s an unlikely scenario outside of a showroom. Still, the 8.65mm thick three-hander wears like a dream and is a reminder why the Patrimony has remained the gold-standard for dress watches for so long. For its part, the more complicated version is a very respectable 9.7mm thickness which puts it a little bit above comparable recent watches from competitors like Patek Philippe and Jaeger-LeCoultre, but below some watches from Breguet. Other case features like the crown position at 3 o’clock and the shape of the lugs is consistent regardless of model. Similarly, each watch is rated to 30m WR and has a transparent caseback of sapphire crystal.
The movements in all watches are, of course, in-house products of Vacheron Constantin. The time-only variants utilize the Calibre 2450 Q6/270 while the Moon Phase Retrograde Date is powered by the Calibre 2460 R31L/270 (seen above). They’re all self-winding automatics with 40 hours of power reserve and 22kt gold oscillating weights that incorporate the brand’s Maltese cross and textual branding. The bridges are decorated with an anniversary emblem and what Vacheron calls a côte unique finish. This, Vacheron claims, was a technique “rediscovered” during the development of the Historiques American 1921‘s centennial in 2021. If that’s true, it gives an extra oomph to the Patrimony collection that only serious collectors will appreciate.
The Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date is priced at $53,000 USD in both white gold (Ref. 4010U/000G-H057) and limited to 270 pieces each; and pink gold (Ref. 4010U/000R-H117) and the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Self-winding is priced at $34,700 USD in both white gold (Ref. 85180/000G-H035) and pink gold (Ref. 85180/000R-H116) and limited to 370 pieces each. For more information, please visit the Vacheron Constantin website.
