Les Cabinotiers Le Temps Divin Asian Culture, Seasons and Wood Marquetry
The Les Cabinotiers Le Temps Divin (divine time) series explore the notion of time in its various cultural and conceptual perceptions: physical and linear like a chronology; astronomical and cyclical like the seasons; metaphysical in the infinite stretching of the present moment. For each of these interpretations, Vacheron Constantin offers a journey towards different cultural horizons, a horological odyssey punctuated by the mechanics of time and staged by artistic crafts. To embody cyclical time, composed of alternating astronomical phenomena, declines and rebirths, Vacheron Constantin has opted for the succession of seasons. Each of the latter is symbolised by a sacred animal from traditional Asian culture, highlighted by wood marquetry. The timepieces feature a tourbillon regulator driven by ultra-thin Calibre 2160.
Cyclical Time
The alternation of day and night, of seasons and lunar cycles, was a very early incentive for humankind to seek regularity. Watchmaking was born of these observations, gradually infusing time with a scientific identity that has never ceased to progress. From cyclical time came physical time, to be sequenced and measured; followed by metaphysical time, which fuels deeper reflection on a concept inherent in the foundations of our universe. The theme of Le Temps Divin explores these different meanings of the term, expressing cyclical time through the seasons as generally expressed in Asian cultures and notably in Chinese culture.
This is not the first time that Vacheron Constantin has taken an interest in the cycle of the seasons in different cultures, as demonstrated by the Métiers d'Art – Apollo’s chariot, The Four Seasons and the Métiers d'Art – La symbolique des laques series. The Maison has also examined the Chinese zodiac cycle that has inspired many of its timepieces, including a Mercator watch with zodiac signs from the 1990s and a 1927 Art Deco table clock.
Sacred animals to symbolise the four seasons
The rhythm of the seasons and years is of highly symbolic importance in Asian cultures, often associated with mythological creatures and the signs of the zodiac. Within such a cosmogony, the celestial ecliptic – the imaginary line corresponding to the visible movement of the Sun as seen from the Earth – is divided into four sections of seven constellations, each represented by its sacred animal: the Azure Dragon, symbol of strength and power for the East and spring; the Vermilion Bird, symbol of luck and prosperity for the South and summer; the White Tiger, symbol of seriousness and courage for the West and autumn; as well as the Black Tortoise, symbol of wisdom and longevity for the North and winter. These animals took shape under the marquetry artisan’s hand, inspired by the murals in the Kitora burial mound in Japan, a circular tomb dating from the 7th century CE and depicting these mythical animals.
A combination of decorative arts and mechanical engineering
The marquetry artisan’s work involves using different types of wood in a variety of shades that are cut, organised, assembled and applied according to the motif to be created. The process involves 150 types of wood covering around 60 natural colours, sheets of veneer preserved at the right temperature and humidity. For these Les Cabinotiers timepieces, and depending on the dial, ten to 12 types were selected: sycamore, padauk, hornbeam, tulip tree, blue myrtle, eucalyptus, maple, burl wood, oak, walnut... some of which were stained or even heated to obtain the right colour.
The artisan begins by reproducing the motif on a scale four times the size of the dial. The lines must be clean and accurate before the design is reduced to its correct proportions and printed in as many copies as are needed for cutting. This is done on tracing paper for each of the pieces composing the marquetry, taking care to leave the perimeter clear. The next and most delicate stage consists of applying these tracings to a stack of ten or so layers of veneer, each 0.6 mm thick, sawn in one piece to facilitate cutting. The operation is performed using a pedal-operated scroll saw, the aim being to divide the tenth-of-a-millimetre design line into two. Finally, the delicately sanded and sometimes previously heated or tinted components are assembled like a jigsaw puzzle. At this stage, they are no more than 0.4 mm thick and, in some cases, not much wider. They are then glued to the final substrate before being sanded down to level and varnished.
This to the millimetre-accurate wood marquetry is even more complex in that it often requires a very large number of components, averaging more than 200 tiny parts from eight to ten different species for each dial. Making a dragon, for example, requires a piece of wood for each of its scales. In all, it takes a month and a half to make a single dial.
The slim case of the four models is the result of ultra-thin Calibre 2160, measuring 5.65 mm thick. Operating at a rate of 18,000 vibrations per hour, it offers an 80-hour power reserve by a winding mechanism coupled to a peripheral rotor. This open architecture of the 188-component movement reveals the level of finishing applied to this High Watchmaking mechanism, with a circular-grained plate on the dial side and hand-bevelled bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève on the back. The gear train wheels are circular satin-finished, the screws chamfered and polished, while the tourbillon bar with its Maltese cross-shaped carriage bearing the small seconds indicated by a blackened screw is delicately rounded off by hand.
TECHNICAL DATA Les Cabinotiers Tourbillon – Ode to the four Guardians “Azure Dragon”
Reference
6040C/000G-153C
Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece
Caliber
2160
Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin
Mechanical self-winding
31.00 mm diameter, 5.65 mm thick
Movement power reserve: approximately 80 hours
2.5 Hz (18’000 vibrations/hour)
188 components
30 jewels
22K gold peripheral oscillating weight
Indications
Hours and minutes
Tourbillon
Small seconds on tourbillon carriage (coloured screw)
Case
18K white gold
42 mm diameter, 11.40 mm thick
Transparent sapphire crystal caseback
Dial
Wood marquetry dial (blue-tinted tulip tree, brosimum rubescens, padouk, blue-tinted dappled eucalyptus, blue-tinted speckled sycamore maple, sky-blue-tinted tulip tree, hornbeam, natural sycamore, blue myrtle burr, amarelo), representing the Azure Dragon
Strap
Blue Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, large square scales
Clasp
18K white gold folding clasp
Presentation box & accessory Les Cabinotiers model
Unique timepiece
« Pièce unique », « Les Cabinotiers » and « AC » hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece
TECHNICAL DATA Les Cabinotiers Tourbillon – Ode to the four Guardians
“Black Tortoise”
Reference
6040C/000G-157C
Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece
Caliber
2160
Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin
Mechanical self-winding
31.00 mm diameter, 5.65 mm thick
Movement power reserve: approximately 80 hours
2.5 Hz (18’000 vibrations/hour)
188 components
30 jewels
22K gold peripheral oscillating weight
Indications
Hours and minutes
Tourbillon
Small seconds on tourbillon carriage (coloured screw)
Case
18K white gold
42 mm diameter, 11.40 mm thick
Transparent sapphire crystal caseback
Dial
Wood marquetry dial (amarelo, grey-tinted speckled maple, grey myrtle burr, grey-tinted oak, green-tinted tulip tree, tulip tree burr, blond walnut, pink-tinted tulip tree, natural sycamore maple, anthracite myrtle burr, padouk, brosimum rubescens), representing the black tortoise
Strap
Black Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, large square scales
Clasp
8K white gold folding clasp
Presentation box & accessory Les Cabinotiers model
Unique timepiece
« Pièce unique », « Les Cabinotiers » and « AC » hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece
TECHNICAL DATA Les Cabinotiers Tourbillon – Ode to the four Guardians “Vermilion Bird”
Reference
6040C/000R-152C
Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece
Caliber
2160
Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin
Mechanical self-winding
31.00 mm diameter, 5.65 mm thick
Movement power reserve: approximately 80 hours
2.5 Hz (18’000 vibrations/hour)
188 components
30 jewels
22K gold peripheral oscillating weight
Indications
Hours and minutes
Tourbillon
Small seconds on tourbillon carriage (coloured screw)
Case
18K 5N pink gold
42 mm diameter, 11.40 mm thick
Transparent sapphire crystal caseback
Dial
Wood marquetry dial (brosimum rubescens, red-tinted poplar burr, amboina burr, red-tinted sycamore maple, red zebrano, red-tinted eucalyptus, thuja burr, hornbeam, amarelo), representing the Vermillon bird
Strap
Dark red Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, large square scales
Clasp
18K 5N pink gold folding clasp
Presentation box & accessory Les Cabinotiers model
Unique timepiece
« Pièce unique », « Les Cabinotiers » and « AC » hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece
TECHNICAL DATA Les Cabinotiers Tourbillon – Ode to the four Guardians “White Tiger”
Reference
6040C/000R-155C
Hallmark of Geneva certified timepiece
Caliber
2160
Developed and manufactured by Vacheron Constantin
Mechanical self-winding
31.00 mm diameter, 5.65 mm thick
Movement power reserve: approximately 80 hours
2.5 Hz (18’000 vibrations/hour)
188 components
30 jewels
22K gold peripheral oscillating weight
Indications
Hours and minutes
Tourbillon
Small seconds on tourbillon
Case
18K 5N pink gold
42 mm diameter, 11.40 mm thick
Transparent sapphire crystal caseback
Dial
Wood marquetry dial (anthracite speckled maple, white-tinted speckled maple, bleached flamed sycamore, bleached Madrona burr, natural sycamore maple, amaranth, padouk, brosimum rubescens, heated hornbeam, blue-tinted tulip tree), representing the white Tiger
Strap
Brown Mississippiensis alligator leather with alligator leather inner shell, hand-stitched, saddle-finish, large square scales
Clasp
18K 5N pink gold folding clasp
Presentation box & accessory Les Cabinotiers model
Unique timepiece
« Pièce unique », « Les Cabinotiers » and « AC » hallmark engraved on the back of the timepiece