1 of 75 ‘Japan 100 Years’ Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle

How do you celebrate a 100 year anniversary of Vacheron Constantin’s presence in Japan? With a 75-example run of beautifully hand guillochéd Traditionelles, obviously. No, I don’t understand why the run wasn’t 100 examples either. Nevertheless, the rest of this effort VC simply nailed. The Japan 100 Years Traditionelle’s pièce de résistance is its radial hand-finished guilloché pattern inspired by the rising sun, unique in its texture and slate-grey tones. The restraint perfectly matches this most paired-back, manually-wound dress offering.

VC have never been a shouty maison, discreet yet knowingly competent. This Traditionelle is perhaps their most quietly smart offering. 38mm, ultra-thin, white gold, and finished exquisitely in ever detail. Some of this is not visible at a glance. Vacheron normally hides what they call their ‘secret’ signature as an engraving in the white gold rehaut. Here, it instead reads ‘Japan 100 years Limited Edition’ instead. All indices and its maltese cross are applied and matched in full polished white gold construction. There is also a touch of classic time-only, with a railroad track for both its minutes and petite seconds.

The back does not let down this bewitching exterior. Its calibre 4400/1 is on full display. Its 127 components create a beat rate of 28,800 vph and 65 hour reserve. But they’re all finished with extreme care; Côtes de Genève matched across all back plates and mirror anglage. Moreover, the screws and the regulator cap are black polished. I quite like the visual cutout choice VC made here to allow its gear train and balance to be on display. Everything about this dress watch feels totally cohesive, which is perhaps the rarest trait for any one watch to possess today.

This example displays little to no wear on its exterior, the while gold barely with hairlines on its highly polished exterior. It comes with its full set from a well-regarded retailer in Ghent, Belgium.

Find this Japan 100 Years Traditionelle here from Mr Watchley for 27850 EUR.