Vacheron Constantin, having covered métiers (with the enameled La Quête sextet), ultra complications (the Astronomer clock) and vintage remakes (the steel Historiques 222), as part of its 270th anniversary celebrations, closes out the year with a trio of Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thins that includes the collection’s first non-diamond pieces—a gender-neutral milestone. When the Traditionnelle QP Ultra-Thin debuted in 2022, it was positioned as a women’s watch, with diamonds and a mother-of-pearl dial. The new non-diamond version transforms the model into a compact option for men who prefer their high complications in a discreet, 36.5 mm size. Since more men than women are watch collectors, it makes sense for Vacheron to introduce this anniversary edition in a non-diamond form. All models in the new trio carry the 270th-anniversary emblem, differentiating them as having been produced in 2025.
There are three models; one in 18-karat pink gold with no diamonds, one in 18-karat white gold with no diamonds—the first non-gem-set Traditionnelle QPs in this size—and another white-gold model with diamond-set bezel, lugs, and crown. The ultra-thin complication is not new for Vacheron in terms of historical precedent. This collection is directly inspired by the Ref. 43021, introduced in 1983 and discontinued 20 years later. It was a pivotal watch, with a perpetual calendar movement that helped renew interest in complicated watchmaking following the quartz crisis. The Ref. 43031, which was less than 8 mm thick and had a diameter of 36 mm, contained the Caliber 1120 QP, the same movement used in the new collection. The movement was also used by Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.
A perpetual calendar is a very busy complication since it has to convey so much information, but if a dial is well-designed and proportioned, indications shouldn’t squeezed together so the dial feels cluttered. This dial follows the classic Traditionnelle layout—month at 12 o’clock, date at 3 o’clock, day at 9 o’clock, and a combined moon-phase and age-of-moon display at 6 o’clock—in proportions that leave plenty of white space around the markers. This partly due to the lack of subdial outlines, a characteristic of the collection. The dial also has the Traditionnelle’s typical railway minute track, faceted Dauphine hands and applied gold baton-style hour markers.
On the gem-set version, the hands match the 18-karat white-gold case, but on the two non-gem-set models, the markers and hands are 18-karat pink gold—even on the white gold case—a distinction that differentiates it from the diamond-set version, and adds an elegant contrast. All three references are Hallmark of Geneva-certified, and come on alligator straps: dark blue for the pink-gold model, light brown for the white-gold model, and dark blue for the gem-set reference. The retail price is $100,000 for non-gem-set models and $102,000 for the gem-set model.
