To say 2025 was a big year for Vacheron Constantin would be an understatement.
It was the watchmaker’s 270th anniversary, and to mark the occasion, it debuted a raft of anniversary special editions, a jaw-dropping Overseas Grand Complication, an entire collection of piece unique masterpieces, a pair of universally wearable Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin references, it broke the record for the world’s most complicated wristwatch with the Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication, and easily the most visually impressive: the 1m tall, 250kg La Quête du Temps automaton clock (which was displayed in the Louvre).
How could any watchmaker follow up such an unforgettable year? The simple answer is you can’t (we’ll need to wait for the 280th anniversary for that), so instead, in 2026, Vacheron Constantin has returned its focus on the fundamentals that make it so exceptional in the first place.
One of those fundamentals is the technical artistry of ultra-thin watchmaking, a storied pursuit that Vacheron Constantin has played a key role in the history and development of, and this year, it’s taken another impressive step forward.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin
Its latest innovation is the Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin, powered by the new Calibre 2550 that was a full seven years in development before it was ready for production.
What’s so special about this movement? To begin with, it’s based on what’s arguably one of the most impressive ultra-thin movements in modern watchmaking, Vacheron Constantin’s Calibre 1120, which was originally released in 1967 (as the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 920). At just 2.45mm thick, the Calibre 1120 was the thinnest full-rotor mechanical watch movement in the world and has served as the base movement for countless amazing Vacheron references over the decades.
Now, the Calibre 2550 arrives as a technically improved update to the original Calibre 1120, which Vacheron Constantin has achieved via three main areas: a platinum micro-rotor, a suspended double barrel, and a more compact gear train. After the best part of a decade of development, Vacheron’s boffins have managed to fit the entire movement into a coin-like package that measures 30.6mm in diameter and 2.4mm in thickness.
In short, the mechanical winding efficiency of the micro-rotor has been improved thanks to its platinum construction, while it’s also been incorporated into the mainplate of the movement to minimise its profile. Likewise, the introduction of the micro-rotor meant the gear train needed to be entirely reworked to maximise the very small mainplate real estate.
What’s arguably most impressive, however, is the new design of the winding spring barrels (the springs that store the power reserve of the watch). Remarkably, Vacheron’s watchmakers managed to fit two barrels on a single axis, which not only allows the movement to be as thin as possible, but also to serve up 80 hours of power reserve when fully wound.
This impressive example of ultra-thin innovation has arrived in a handsome Overseas collection package, cased in platinum (a first for the Overseas line-up) with a case that measures a modest 39.5mm in diameter and an appropriately slim 7.35mm in thickness. Thanks to the all-new Calibre 2550, it also claims the crown for the thinnest Overseas model that Vacheron Constantin has ever released. What a treat.
Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921
In addition to the fascinating new member of the Overseas family, this year, Vacheron Constantin has also breathed new life into one of its most storied and historically significant designs with an all-new Historiques American 1921.
If you’re not familiar with this asymmetric, off-centre watch design, it was originally released in (you guessed it) 1921. It was an immediate success with the drivers of the day, who could easily read the time on the angled watch face without taking their hands off the steering wheel.
We’ve seen a few different expressions of this uniquely designed timepiece over the last decade, but this latest example is defined by its heavily textured, grained opaline dial with bright blue Arabic numeral hour markers and attractive blued gold hands. It’s cased in either a 36.5mm or a 40mm size, respectively 7.41mm and 8.06mm in thickness, and both are crafted from 5N pink gold that serves to nicely contrast the blue hands and hour markers.
If you’ve been thinking about adding a Historiques American 1921 to your collection, purely based on its design merits alone, these two new references are worthy of serious consideration.
