FiftySix
History of the line
The FiftySix line was born in 2018, presented at the SIHH in Geneva, as an openly declared reinterpretation of reference 6073 from 1956: a watch whose case design already anticipated the brand's link with the Maltese cross, since each of its lugs reproduced the shape of one of the arms of the company emblem. Ref. 6073 was also among the first Vacheron Constantin watches to be fitted with a self-winding movement, a significant technical detail in the decision to revive its name for a contemporary collection.
The name "FiftySix" explicitly refers to 1956, the year of the original inspiration, while the design takes up the sector dial with alternating Arabic numerals and baton indices, the "box-type" domed sapphire crystal rising above the bezel in tribute to 1950s style, and of course the Maltese-cross-shaped lugs, a motif that also returns on the openworked rotor visible through the caseback.
The collection was launched with three models — an automatic with date, a day-date with power reserve indicator and a complete calendar with precision moon phase — all in a 40 mm case available in steel or 18-carat rose gold, with the stated aim of offering a more accessible entry point to the manufacture's catalogue than more formal lines such as Patrimony or Traditionnelle, without giving up in-house movements and the finishing visible through the transparent caseback.
Line features
Key milestones of the line
In the 1956 ref. 6073 the Maltese cross shape was not just a decorative motif applied to the dial, as on many other models from the brand, but the very design of the case lugs: an unusual and more structural way of putting the company emblem on the watch, which the FiftySix line brought back more than sixty years later, extending it to the rotor visible through the caseback.