SPECIFICHE
Extremely rare Vacheron & Constantin with “five Maltese crosses” dial, incredible and equally rare heavy white gold case with stepped lugs produced by Spillmann, and automatic hammer-wound movement 477/1, from 1950.
18K white gold case measuring 34.5mm
Dial with applied white gold indexes
Corona originale
Screw-lock case back
Cristallo di plastica
Bumper movement 477/1 (derived from JLC 476)
ANALISI
Among collectors, the term “rare bird” is used to describe an extremely rare watch. It’s often used incorrectly, but in the case of this extraordinary Vacheron & Constantin, it’s more than appropriate. This exceptional time-only watch, signed by one of the most historic and refined Swiss watchmakers, is a concentration of aesthetic purity supported by truly unique technical elements.
The general configuration of this watch, produced by Vacheron & Constantin since the late 1940s, is known mostly for its yellow gold case and standard dial with applied Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 or at 3, 6, 9, and 12, always interspersed with arrowhead hour markers (of varying shapes). The extreme rarity of this piece lies in the unusual and exceptional variant of the 18K white gold case and the dial layout, which features four Maltese crosses emerging from the surface in place of the quarter numerals. These two elements combined make this piece unique and unrepeatable.
The dial features a two-tone design, with a milky white background in the center surrounded by a ring whose surface features a very thin diagonal satin finish that contrasts with the center color. The two pseudo-sections of the dial are separated by the minute track, which features the typical sequence of circular dots removed from the surface. The innermost section features the Vacheron & Constantin signature at 12 o’clock, located beneath the applied white gold Maltese cross. At 6 o’clock, the word “Automatic” is pad-printed in black. The outer section of the dial is designed to house four white gold Maltese crosses at the quarter hours, interspersed with arrowhead indexes. The hands, also in white gold, are shaped like narrow, sinuous pencils; the continuous seconds hand is beautiful, taking on the elegant, pin-shaped shape typical of Vacheron & Constantin.
The case is a work of high craftsmanship, created in the workshops of the renowned casemaker C.R. Spillmann & Co. (maker’s hallmark no. 136), a Swiss family business that, for over a century, has put its art to work for the greatest names in watchmaking.
It is useful to open a historical parenthesis here.
It all began with Charles Rodolphe Spillmann, born on April 5, 1861, in Eglisau, Canton of Zurich. After marrying Marie Augustine Schweighofer in 1894, with whom he had three children (Jules, Yvonne, and Nelly), he devoted himself to the construction of watch cases. The company, founded in 1884 in La Chaux-de-Fonds under the name Spillmann & Rothen, was renamed C.R. Spillmann in 1888. His talent was recognized early: as early as 1896, he participated in the Swiss National Exhibition in Geneva, where he won a silver medal. A contemporary newspaper, La Fédération Horlogère, described their exhibition admiringly, praising the “extremely light” gold cases, the refined and elegant models for various countries (Germany, England, Russia, Italy), and the technical innovations of screw-down case backs for improved watertightness. Spillmann’s fame, however, is inextricably linked to the name of Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex. In 1926, Wilsdorf launched the first waterproof wristwatch in history: the Rolex Oyster, featuring a hermetic case with a screw-down crown and case back. That iconic design was not developed in-house by Rolex, but by C.R. Spillmann himself. For nearly a century, Rolex relied on this external supplier for its most famous case. But Spillmann was not an exclusive Rolex designer. Its clientele was diverse and included brands such as Longines, Piaget, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Universal Genève, Zenith, Doxa, Bovet, and even manufacturers of school watches. By the late 1930s – perhaps after the death of Charles Rodolphe Spillmann on September 7, 1938 – the company had passed into the hands of his son Jules and, subsequently, his grandson Rodolphe. During this period, the Spillmann factories developed a now infamous and iconic waterproof case for chronographs. Following on from a more “classic” monoblock case design, a larger evolution was developed, characterized by a still two-piece construction but with thick, short lugs and a sharply angled upper section. The Spillmann laboratories were thus able to produce “muscular” cases, especially for chronographs, alongside very elegant and “lightweight” water-resistant time-only cases. The concept of everyday use and sports watches was always expressed through the distinctive features of a two-body (or monoblock) construction, with the case and bezel carved from a single block of metal and only the case back screwed down to ensure robustness and waterproofness.
The case of this extremely rare Vacheron & Constantin fits into this conceptual framework.
It has a very smooth, domed profile, both visually and tactilely. The pseudo-bezel rests gently on the case body, which flares outward: the effect is that of a slight compression from top to bottom, resulting in a swelling of the case middle. The marvelous “fancy” lugs characterize the overall design with their elastic curve, starting from the bottom and evolving upwards with a double step, before swooping back down again, projecting outward. The entire aesthetic concept is designed to achieve a total sense of roundness. The case is secured by a screw-down case back, featuring a dodecagonal nut structure on the outside. Inside, the 18K gold hallmarks, the typical Vacheron & Constantin signature, and the hammerhead hallmark No. 136, a reference to the casemaker Spillmann, are located.
The heavy white gold caseback protects another marvel: the VC 477/1 caliber. It is a self-winding hammer-wound movement based on the JLC 476, customized and finished by Vacheron & Constantin with the signature on the winding rotor and a Côte de Genève treatment on the mainplate and bridges. This movement – created in the late 1940s and immediately adopted by Vacheron & Constantin – measures 10.5 lignes in diameter (29.56 mm) and is approximately 11 mm thick. It has 17 jewels, a balance wheel with compensation screws that oscillates at 18,000 vibrations per hour, a unidirectional hammer-wound oscillating weight, a Glucydur balance with a Nivarox hairspring and JLC shock absorber, and a 40-hour power reserve.
