A minute repeater made in 1962 won Best of Show at Vacheron Constantin’s first Concours d’Elegance Horlogere. The awards were given in Geneva on the evening of 10 November, after a jury had worked down from more than 550 watches to 34 finalists and seven category winners, as WorldTempus reports. The contest was created with Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo and was open to Vacheron Constantin watches made between 1755 and 1999.
More than 550 watches were entered, 95 reached the jury, 34 went on show in Geneva and eight left with a prize.
The 1962 minute repeater that won Best of Show
The jury’s special prize went to a watch that even the maker had not handled. According to the account of the evening published by the Instituto Portugues de Relojoaria, Vacheron Constantin knew the model existed but had never been able to examine one closely. The organisers cited its case design, its origins and its state of preservation. Neither the reference nor the owner was named.
That fits the idea of the contest. A concours judges condition, originality and story as much as rarity. A chiming watch that has reached 2026 in that state, out of sight of its own maker, scores on all three.
Seven categories, from a 1926 pocket watch to a steel Chronometre Royal
| Category | Winner | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Chronographs | Pocket chronograph that belonged to the Spanish physician Gregorio Maranon | 1929 |
| Metiers d’art | Pocket watch with the enamelled crest of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia | 1930 |
| Chronometre Royal | Steel reference 2215, black dial with three diamond markers | 1976 |
| Astronomical complications | Platinum reference 4764, the Cioccolatone, with full calendar | 1957 |
| Multiple complications | Don Pancho, a yellow gold minute repeater with retrograde date | 1940 |
| Design | World-time wristwatch on the Cottier system | 1957 |
| Chiming mechanisms | Pocket watch kept in one family for three generations | 1926 |
The most storied winner is Don Pancho. The tonneau-shaped wristwatch was commissioned in 1935 by the Chilean collector Francisco Martinez Llano and delivered in 1940, with a minute repeater and a retrograde date in one yellow gold case. It is a unique piece. Vacheron Constantin’s own heritage workshops restored it after it resurfaced.
The steel Chronometre Royal of 1976 sits at the other end. Reference 2215 is a plain three-hand watch, here with a black dial and three diamond markers, and it took the category named after the model line. The platinum 4764 of 1957, known to collectors as the Cioccolatone for its square cushion case, is also a unique piece.
How 550 watches became 34 finalists
Collectors entered more than 550 pocket watches and wristwatches. Each was examined by the watchmakers and heritage staff of the manufacture, 95 went before the jury, and the highest scores in each category made the 34 finalists, which were shown at the Hotel President Wilson from 4 to 8 November. The jury was co-chaired by Aurel Bacs of Phillips and Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin’s style and heritage director, and included Benjamin Clymer, Nicholas Foulkes, Auro Montanari and the watchmaker Felix Baumgartner.
Bacs was clear about what the evening was for. “This is not a commercial exercise for either Vacheron Constantin or us,” he said, as quoted by WorldTempus. No watch was for sale. The prize was a trophy.
The Luxury.it perspective
Geneva’s watch week sold more than 100 million dollars of watches at Phillips on 7 and 8 November, and two days later it gave prizes to watches that were not for sale. The second event may matter more to Vacheron Constantin. A concours brings private pieces out of safes, puts them through the archive and tells the market which references the maker itself rates highest. Expect the 4764, the 2215 and anything like Don Pancho to be watched closely the next time one comes to auction. Our report on the Geneva Watch Auction XXIV has the sale, and the earlier piece on the 34 finalists has the rules.
Related guides
A steel Patek Philippe 1436 from 1945 · George Daniels at 100 · A Patek Philippe 1518 at Christie’s · Hublot’s Tributo 1980
