43031 Vacheron Constantin Perpetual Calendar

When Vacheron Constantin introduced reference 43031 in 1983, it was the first time the maison had ever put a perpetual calendar on the wrist. Conceived in the depths of the quartz crisis, it stood as a defiant statement—alongside Audemars Piguet's 5548 of 1978 and Patek Philippe's 3940 of 1985—that classical complicated watchmaking still had a future. Of that neo-vintage trinity of ultra-thin automatic QPs, the Vacheron is comfortably the rarest, and the first series champagne dial sits near the top of the reference's hierarchy.

The first series ran from 1983 until circa 1991, identified by its sigma signature made after Swiss only but prior to the edition of Automatic text at 6. It features a solid snap-on caseback with hallmarks at 12 and case number at 6. Across the reference's full 23-year production, output varied between roughly 20 and 100 pieces annually, with the total believed to be under 2,300 examples—a fraction of what AP and Patek delivered. Yellow gold first series dials surface in just three finishes: white, a single known silvered-brushed example, and champagne. 

The design brief was all restraint: a 36mm yellow gold case under 8mm thick, stepped bezel, long straight lugs, four flush-set correctors, and a Maltese cross crown. Inside is caliber 1120 QP—the legendary ultra-thin JLC 920 base fitted with a Dubois-Dépraz-developed calendar module and finished to Geneva Seal standards, its full-diameter rotor rimmed in 21k gold. The dial layout was novel for its time: a 48-month subdial at 12 integrating the leap year indication, day at 9, date at 3, and a lapis lazuli moon disc—real stone, where rivals used lacquer.

Unlike early 5548s, the month can be set independently—a mini technical flex. Subdial hands appear in blued steel or matching gold with no clear pattern, while black hands indicate service replacements. Rarer still: guilloché dials, platinum integrated bracelet variants, plus French and Spanish calendar dials, or the rarer skeleton 43032. The 43031, though, is a legendary QP which still today sits at a comfortable, attainable value sans guilloché.