Roll up, roll up and guess the weight of this beauty ....?
A slightly crazy recent acquisition, a 1955 Vacheron & Constantin, all aluminium keyless pocket watch, silvered dial with Breguet numerals, and a movement with the plates in aluminium but nickel plated. 17-jewel Cal.439/7 calibre inside, laid out like a pocket watch, of course. 10mm thick overall and 44mm diameter - all for, "weight" for it (groan), 20.2 grams (just under 3/4 oz. in old money). Just the most extraordinary bit of engineering, but don't sit on it by accident, I have the feeling it isn't that robust!
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Richard
Mainly vintage obsessed, prefer off the beaten path, VC, Breguet, Piaget, JLC, Zenith, Longines, Omega, Smiths. Far too many dress watches. But of course a G-Shock is god tier and always will be.
London
Member since
Last active: 25 secs ago
7.25” / 18.42 cm
I like this PW Richard. It’s a beautifully clean design. The Movement also look great condition and the cabinet style case is also a nice touch for sure. How did you acquire this piece? Was it a heirloom??
It was an auction acquisition, I took a bit of gamble as I'm prone to do at auction, but I've been on the hunt for one for while now. It weighs almost nothing in the hand - breathe on it and you'll leave a mark. The design is beautifully proportioned. The numerals look to be in aluminium, but the hands are in steel. Obviously highly Breguet inspired. They were a special commission from Northern Aluminium (now Alcan I think), in the 50s as presentation watches. Sadly at some point the winding crown has been swapped. I'm going to send it back to Vacheron to see if they have an original in one of their many parts drawers (they usually do!). It should be more onion crown shaped.
Always entertained by various mining companies' attempts to promote their commodity. I have a couple Alcan presentation medallions but nothing like this!!!
Always entertained by various mining companies' attempts to promote their commodity. I have a couple Alcan presentation medallions but nothing like this!!!
They really doubled down on this one! The texture of the metal is very warm and silky to the touch, unlike titanium which never feels right and always seems to set my teeth on edge, however much I try to like it.
Now THAT is way cool! 😎
Thanks for sharing it with us! 👍
Great watch
For reference, I have the Casio MQ-24 (the super flimsy resin analog three-hander, the analog F-91W) weighing 18 grams with band. It's a 33mm quartz watch with a plastic case. This is truly impressive.
For reference, I have the Casio MQ-24 (the super flimsy resin analog three-hander, the analog F-91W) weighing 18 grams with band. It's a 33mm quartz watch with a plastic case. This is truly impressive.
Indeed. It’s freakishly light, almost like a toy, but only suitable for slipping into a watch pocket on a waistcoat.