Patrimony

The Patrimony line was launched in 2004 as a statement of intent in the field of the dress watch: the name itself, "heritage", refers to the aim of gathering and updating a style that Vacheron Constantin had already expressed in the mid-20th century. The direct reference is references 6178 and 6179 from 1957, two men's watches with a deliberately spare design — a thin case, minimal applied indices, baton hands — conceived as statements of discreet elegance rather than technical showpieces.

From those two references the new collection inherited its core principle: letting the dial, in its simplicity, take centre stage, with no decorative frills to distract from legibility and proportions. Patrimony cases remain among the thinnest in the manufacture's catalogue, with domed dials, sharp indices and dauphine hands, in rose gold, white gold, platinum or yellow gold depending on the version, with versions also designed for women.

Over its two decades the line has grown to include more than twenty models, from two-hand versions to complications such as the perpetual calendar housed in an ultra-thin case just 8.9 mm thick: a balance, kept constant since 2004, between maximum visual simplicity and the haute horlogerie hidden in the movement.