Interview – Christian Selmoni on Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers, on keeping very Complicated Watches wearable and the Overseas
Christian Selmoni is the Style and Heritage Director at Vacheron Constantin. He joined the brand thirty years ago, in 1990, and gradually climbed the ladder to his current position, in the meantime having been responsible, among others, for the design and development of the company’s famous 250th-anniversary collections. Overall one of the most likeable persons in the watch industry, a perfect gentleman, always dressed to impress and when he starts talking about ‘his’ brand you can see and feel his enthusiasm. Through zoom, we talked about a range of topics including bespoke and one-off VC timepieces, some of the brand’s most complicated pieces (and most complicated watch in the world), and the strategies of making a watch wearable when it’s packed with two dozen complications and watch faces on both sides.
It’s Friday, and usually that means a message from me regarding all the great things that happened during the week. But today, in addition to that, which is captured in the top four stories to check out below, I want to look forward. To tomorrow. Because at midday Australian time, and 7pm LA and 10pm NYC (sorry for the middle of the night drop, Europe; maybe the clubbers will like it!), we’re going to Baselworld one last time. It’s part 3 of the Home Delivery Watch Fair, Basel Edition and, boy, are we finishing it with a blast. Here are the top 5 reasons to watch it. 1. BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE BREITLING PARTY Look, for many, ‘Breitling Party’ may evoke what it literally says. A party that has something to do with Breitling. For watch journalists and retailers lucky enough to have attended Baselworld in its heyday, it means something else altogether. For Luke Benedictus, who has been writing a lot of our most popular stories of late, it means “the most decadent parties I’ve ever been to”. I sit down on the couch with Luke in the Drinks Break (to drink along with us, charge a glass…
Japanese arcade gaming doyen Sega is celebrating the big SIX ZERO this year, and compatriot Seiko has decided to mark the occasion with not one but two new limited chronographs. The special chronos are hewn from stainless steel and stainless steel with a blackened hard coating, and measure in at a surprisingly middling 38.5mm across and just 9.6mm thick. Both cases are capped with a flat Hardlex crystal and, rather neatly, are also water resistant to 100 metres. “GO SEGA” has been engraved into the casebacks in the quintessential Sega font, along with a unique serial number. Likewise, the bracelet deployant clasps also feature the “GO SEGA” lettering, which has been etched using lasers. Fans of the gaming firebrand will also love the dials of both these watches, as they’ve been adorned with the classic blue Sega motif, which sits at three o’clock, directly below the applied Seiko logo. Iconic logo aside, the dials of these steely chronos appear to be quite handsome, featuring radial sunburst bases, splashes of Sega blue and concentrically patterned sub-dials located at 12, 6 and 9 o’clock that portray a 1/20th second totaliser, 12-hour totaliser and running seconds, respectively. Powering the chronos is Seiko’s…
The IWC Big Pilot collection is a pillar of the brand for a reason. The design is iconic and has remained unchanged for the best part of a century, the wrist presence is almost unparalleled, and the double-barrelled power reserve means you can take it off for a week without needing to reset the time. As a result of its significance within IWC, and its popularity on the wrists of collectors around the world, the Big Pilot has been expressed in countless different ways, from simple time-only references to perpetual calendars and tourbillons. With that in mind, I canvassed the team for their thoughts on the Big Pilot reference that was most dear to their heart, and arrived at some interesting answers. Nick Kenyon – IWC Big Pilot Heritage IW501004 There is an unsurprising boldness to the IWC Big Pilot Heritage that speaks to me loud and clear, harking back to a time when this type of watch was a crucial part of a pilot’s equipment. While the creamy off-white lume might whisper “fauxtina” into the ears of purists, the darker metal of the 46.2mm sandblasted titanium case complements it by matching a vintage-looking dial with a case that doesn’t…
