Malte Tourbillon Openworked by Vacheron Constantin

An early pocket watch by Jean-Marc Vacheron, 18th century

The first watch made by Jean-Marc Vacheron in 1755 already had an openworked, engraved balance-cock, and over its 260 years of history, the brand’s craftspeople have become expert in this art. The Malte Tourbillon Openworked, reference 30135/000P-9842, is a mechanical, manually-wound watch, in a large case in platinum, 38 x 48 mm, 12.73 m thick. The Malte case design, with its tonneau shape, has been an important part of the brand’s production since its introduction in 1912.

In order to display as much of the in-house Calibre 2790 SQ movement and the skeletonized bridges as possible, the dial, like the watchglass and caseback, is in sapphire, with engraved and inked indications for date, power reserve and seconds. The small seconds hand is part of the tourbillon carriage. The external part of the dial is in grey metal, with a painted minute track and applied hour markers.

The decoration of the metal surfaces is performed by hand, and is based on a series of tiny triangles. This creates a sort of mosaic, reflecting light in different ways. The process of decoration is performed on each component individually before assembly, and as a result, the watchmaker has to check each part carefully, ensuring that the metalworking has not created any distortion.

The watch bears the Geneva Seal (Poinçon de Genève).