Luxury Gadgets

The world’s most complicated and expensive wristwatch - Tour de l’Ile by Vacheron Constantin

April 4th, 2006

The superb white gold dial features the exclusive guillochage that can be found only on the anniversary pieces, furthermore the aesthetic exclusivity is enhanced by the hands inspired from a model dating from 1926 and which also can uniquely be found in the anniversary models. Finally a secret signature, which can be only seen with a loupe, is engraved on the dial at 12 o’clock representing the anniversary date: 1755-2005.

Named in reference to one of the historical sites of Vacheron Constantin located next to the current Maison Vacheron Constantin on the Quai de l’Ile this true feat of horological craftsmanship is housed in the special case designed for all the anniversary pieces with channelled bezels, redesigned Maltese Cross symbol crowns and distinctive and absolutely gorgeous lugs. I know that it may seem disproportionate to talk about the lugs when standing before the world’s most complicated wristwatch, but one thing that I have come to appreciate and truly admire from Vacheron Constantin is their different lug designs and this one is no exception. Their shape can only be attained by hand finish and many long hours of painstaking shaving and polishing is required for each individual lug.
Keeping time seems so simple until you run up against something like the Tour de l’Ile from Vacheron Constantin. After seven years in development and three years of assembly, the Swiss watchmaker marked its 250th anniversary this year with the world’s busiest timepiece–at least for now. The Tour de l’Ile has 834 separate parts and 16 complications, including tourbillon, power reserve, striking-mechanism torque, moon phase, perpetual calendar, sunrise time, leap-year indicator, sunset time, sky chart and others. At $1.5 million, it’s the priciest timepiece in Vacheron Constantine’s anniversary line.

Entry Filed under: Top Watches 2005