Enamel, Taiwan Dial 43050 Vacheron Constantin Mercator

Vacheron Constantin’s Mercator is a time-only quite unlike any other. Released in 1994, it sought to honor the 400th anniversary of Gerardus Mercator who created map projection—the basis of all modern cartography. He was also, notably, a calligrapher and engraver: both of which inspired the overall basis for this ref. 43050. The approach is daring, but not out of character for Vacheron Constantin, who have a long and storied history of alternative time display watches going back to the famous ‘Don Pancho’. It was not until 1994 that Vacheron Constantin gave the world a contemporary take on their retrograde displays, this time for the time itself. The Mercator that resulted is one of the most beautiful yet unusual pieces of any brand’s modern history, a rare touch of daring from the notoriously conservative Vacheron Constantin. Roughly 638 examples were made.

However, this is quite a special Mercator. Much like the engraved enamel vs entirely enamel 2526 dials in Patek Philippe, this is a true champlevé enamel. 26 examples of this map were created, which features the South China Sea, Taiwan, and eastern coastline of China. This technique requires the enamlist to carved the regions from a metal base, fill the area with enamel powder, and fire them individually. Enamel dial Mercators usually have their individual number out of the total limited edition production for each dial engraved left of the crown. The enamellists here were Jean & Lucie Genbrugge, a husband and wife team who also helped to create the concept of this watch with Vacheron. This case is also pink gold, a nice rare touch.

All Mercators were based on Vacheron’s calibre 1120/2, a JLC 920 ébauche with Genbrugge’s own bi-retrograde mechanism integrated on top. Despite the mechanism, the overall watch is just 8.5mm thin, which lends a real elegance to its wearing. The Mercator is one of the most beautiful, expressive, and unusual creations of the 1990s ‘holy trinity’, all thanks to one pair of inspired and genius watchmakers. Vacheron Constantin were wise to allow the Genbrugge couple to see their idea through from inspiration to a completed watch. This type of solitary vision, cohesive and daring watchmaking rarely happens today.