In 1755, when Jean-Marc Vacheron established Vacheron Constantine, he wanted to find a place both an exibit hall for his products and a shelter for his family and his apprentice. While at that time, both Genevese handicraftsmen and Les Cabinotiers preferred the old city areas in Genevese, where the customers could talk about their requirements of watches in secret.
Vacheron Constantin also continues to manufacture a limited number of ultra-complicated watches, such as the Tourbillon watches, the unique "Grand Mercator" and a magnificent minute repeater/perpetual calendar. The prices for these watches are obviously quite high, but for many watch enthusiasts, a Vacheron Constantin represents the ultimate expression of the watchmaker's art -- an heirloom to be passed down through the generations and treasured by those lucky enough to own one.
After several years' operation in Quai des Bergues, that is in 1843, Constantine was relocated in Tour de L'lle.
With business developing, Jean-Francois Constantine invited architect Elysee Goss to build a Headquarter Mansion for Vacheron Constantine in 1 quai des Moulins next to L'lle.And the Headquarter Mansion was accomplished in 1875.
Contantine invited architect Bettinger to set up the first brand exclusive agency within rue des Moulins, which was opened on 1st August,1906. Now, both Genevese and foreign tourists can get detailed appreciation of all the masterpieces in presented on the shelves.
Celebrities like going to Constantin Exclusive Agency, like Egyptian Kings Farouk and Fouad, Egyptian Prince Aga Khan, Italian Kings Patiala and Baroda, and English Edward Prince of Wales.They are there not just to enjoy the beauty of Constantine, they also like wearing Constantine, like Elizabeth Empress The Second,Japanese emperors and intellectuals,U.N.former secretary-general Javier Perez de Cuillar, famous film satrs Nicole Kidman, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Kirk Douglas,fashion designer Gianfranco Ferre and famous diretorial export Andreas Segovia.
Constantine watch is your best choices to make.
In 2005, the Headquarters Mansion and the factory were teansferred to Plan-les-Qiates , designed by Bernard Tschumi Urbanistes Architectes in Genevese, while architect Eric Maria was responsible for the restoration of Vacheron Constantine Maison in rue des Moulins,L'lle in the center of Genevese.
In the spacious and quiet exclusive agency, customers can appreciate Constantine's latest collections and meanwhile talk about the designs of their orders with exports, which is really rewarding to them.Whie on the first floor, viewers will definitely get understanding of Constantin's watchmaking history and tradition, upon visiting the brand'muniment room, watchmaking devices, the varied patterns since the year of 1755, the watch craftsmen at work, Constantin Library with a large and comprehensive storage,and the detailed watchmaking technology and episodes of technique recording.
One of the great seeming contradictions of Haute Horlogerie is the worship of hand craftsmanship, the mystique of the human touch, in an endeavour that is often better served by mechanized production. In an ironic way, this same paradox partially accounts for the renaissance of the mechanical watch in the last two decades of the 20th century. In an age of virtual reality and digital paradigms, the sensual image of human hands polishing and adjusting a complicated movement, hearing the soft tic-tic-tic of the escapement, precise and reliable beyond all other complex mechanical systems, is somehow soothing and lends some degree of comfort to humans that are, after all, inherently part of the analog, physical world.
To date, Constantin Exclusive Agency still appeals a lot to numerous watch enthusiasts, who are ready to appreciate the 250 years or so fantastic history of the brand by mean of watching the watches in the shop or their manufacture details.
