43032 Vacheron Constantin Skeleton Quantième Perpétuel

In Lord of The Rings, the nine rings given to mortal men created Wraiths, Mordor’s most loyal servants. They roamed the lands ushering in Sauron’s reign, ending other ruler’s power. But in horology, the neo-vintage era had five emissaries to usher in the apocalypse of Japan’s quartz domination. Yes, there are five. Most discuss only the storied refs 5548, 43031, and 3940. However, this perspective overlooks two quite distinct refs, the skeletonized 25558 (including by extension later 25668) and 43032, which keeping in LOTR analogy are the watch equivalent are Gandalf the White to the 43031 and 5548’s Gandalf the Grey. Yes, I went there and stand by it.

The two skeletonized references are largely overlooked because they’re far less seen. AP made just 422 across two references and a decade. Vacheron made 10-15 per year, leading estimates also just under 500. But just 150 were made in this platinum, 130 with white subdials and only 20 with blue subs. Production was likely tiny simply because the level of hand labor required was drastically higher than finishing the normal calibres. Here, the 1120 QP is skeletonized, finished classically, and then engraved entirely by hand, both front side and rear. Compared to the AP, you’ll find this case wears just slightly more masculine thanks to a more angular lug and wider bezel.

Interestingly, such a classic watch without a classic dial does tend to polarize opinion. I’m always reminded of an Emma Watson quote with these, famously advocating for modesty as the ultimate expression of sexiness. It goes, ‘What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder.’ She’s right, mostly. But I do have to wonder if the two neo-vintage skeletonized Quantième Perpétuels are the exception for me. Aesthetics are a matter of opinion, but it’s not arguable that these 1000 some watches across two manufactures are the ultimate celebration of Switzerland’s return. They deserve their own separate spotlight, not to just be lumped in the broader original references. Sorry Emma, long live Galdalf the White.

This example has light surface wear on the case, in essence only hairlines from light wear. Otherwise, it’s perfect. It comes with an Extract of Archive from a well-regarded London retailer.