The Most Troublesome Watch Ever, the Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication

Once more in 2015, on the occasion of the mannequin’s 260^th anniversary, Vacheron Constantin unveiled the Reference 57260, a pocket watch made-to-order for a collector considered basically probably the most subtle on the earth – with no fewer than 57 issues, along with Gregorian, Judaic, and lunar calendars. On the occasion of Watches & Wonders 2024, the Geneva-based manufacture goes even extra with one different commissioned piece (by the an identical collector), the Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication. Uniting no fewer than 63 issues, along with the first Chinese language language Perpetual Calendar, it turns into basically probably the most subtle watch ever created. As soon as extra!

Sooner than delving into the details and intricacies of this completely difficult creation, quite a lot of phrases about its story. It took a loyal crew of three watchmakers a strong 11 years to craft this distinctive bespoke timepiece, with one full yr devoted solely to the assembly course of! Such a journey exemplifies a distinctive human endeavour and journey. Witnessing folks – be it the patron, the mannequin, or the knowledgeable watchmakers – undertake such an formidable enterprise is admittedly fascinating.

The Berkley Grand Complication is a price from the an identical collector, Mr. Berkley (whose title had not been disclosed until proper this second), who moreover commissioned the already mind-blowing Reference 57260. It is a creation of Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers division, which focuses on crafting bespoke timepieces. Its title, “the Berkley”, will inevitably bring to mind these of Henry Graves and James Ward Packard, who commissioned and gave their names to well-known Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin grandes issues a number of century previously…

The Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication is an evolution of the 57260, which is why it shares the an identical look and the an identical proportions with an imposing 98mm x 50.55mm case in 18k white gold. However, it brings the entire number of issues from 57 to now 63. Notably, if the 57260 featured a Hebraic perpetual calendar, the Berkley is the first mechanical watch to attribute a Chinese language language perpetual calendar (set until 2200). This was certainly one of many essential technical challenges of this new timepiece.

What makes the reproduction of the Chinese language language calendar notably troublesome is its irregularities, which require algorithms to transcribe them proper right into a mechanism. According to Vacheron Constantin, it is pushed by three mechanical brains to point out the date of the lunar yr over a 19-year cycle – as a result of the Chinese language language calendar used this “metonic” cycle, a interval of 235 lunations, to insert leap months of their lunisolar calendar – blended with a sexagesimal cycle for the ten celestial stems and 12 earthly branches.

For additional knowledge, please search the recommendation of vacheron-constantin.com.

TIME MEASUREMENT

1. Regulator-type hours, minutes and seconds for indicate picture voltaic time
2. Retrograde second for indicate picture voltaic time
3. Day and night indication for reference metropolis
4. Seen spherical armillary tourbillon regulator with spherical stability spring
5. Armillary sphere tourbillon
6. World time indication for 24 cities
7. Second time zone hours and minutes (on 12 hours present)
8. Second time zone day and night indication
9. System to point out the second time zone for the Northern or Southern
   hemispheres

GREGORIAN PERPETUAL CALENDAR

10. Gregorian perpetual calendar
11. Gregorian days of the week
12. Gregorian months
13. Gregorian retrograde date
14. Leap-year indication and four-year cycle
15. Number of the day of the week (ISO 8601 calendar)
16. Indication for the number of the week contained in the yr (ISO 8601 calendar)

CHINESE PERPETUAL CALENDAR

17. Chinese language language perpetual calendar
18. Chinese language language number of the day
19. Chinese language language title of the month
20. Chinese language language date indication
21. Chinese language language zodiac indicators
22. 5 elements and 10 celestial stems
23. 6 energies and 12 earthly branches
24. Chinese language language yr state (frequent or embolismic)
25. Month state (small or big)
26. Indication for the Golden amount contained in the 19-year Metonic cycle
27. Indication for the date of the Chinese language language New Yr throughout the Gregorian calendar

CHINESE AGRICULTURAL CALENDAR

28. Chinese language language agricultural perpetual calendar
29. Indications of seasons, equinoxes and solstices with picture voltaic hand

ASTRONOMICAL INDICATIONS

30. Sky chart (calibrated for Shanghai)
31. Sidereal hours
32. Sidereal minutes
33. Daybreak time (calibrated for Shanghai)
34. Sunset time (calibrated for Shanghai)
35. Equation of time
36. Dimension of the day (calibrated for Shanghai)
37. Dimension of the night (calibrated for Shanghai)
38. Phases and age of the moon, one correction every 1027 years

SPLIT SECONDS CHRONOGRAPH

39. Fifths of a second chronograph (1 column wheel)
40. Fifths of a second split-second chronograph (1 column wheel)
41. 12-hour counter (1 column wheel)
42. 60-minute counter

ALARM

43. Progressive alarm with single gong and hammer putting
44. Alarm strike / silence indicator
45. Number of common alarm or carillon putting alarm indicator
46. Alarm mechanism coupled to the carillon putting mechanism
47. Alarm putting with various of grande or petite sonnerie
48. Alarm power-reserve indication
49. System to disengage the alarm barrel when completely wound

WESTMINSTER CARILLON

50. Carillon Westminster chiming with 5 gongs and 5 hammers
51. Grand passing strike ringtone
52. Small passing strike ringtone
53. Minute repeating
54. Night silence attribute (between 22.00 and 08.00 hours – hours chosen by the proprietor)
55. System to disengage the putting barrel when completely wound
56. Indication for large or small ring modes
57. Indication for silence / putting / night modes

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

58. Power-reserve indication for the going put together
59. Power-reserve indication for the putting put together
60. Winding crown place indicator
61. Winding system for the double barrels
62. Hand-setting system with two positions and two directions
63. Hid flush-fit winding crown for the alarm mechanism