Vacheron Constantin is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted history. The company was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1755 by an independent watchmaker named Jean-Marc Vacheron. Miraculously, the company survived through the French Revolution and began exporting internationally. When it became clear that the business had grown beyond its current capacity, François Constantin was brought on as an associate in 1819 and the name was changed to Vacheron & Constantin. The company continued to grow and thrive under its motto, “Do better if possible and that is always possible,” logging innovation after innovation.
Vacheron Constantin pushed boundaries throughout the 20th century and now into the 21st. A full list of the company’s extraordinary timepieces could be an article all its own, but we’d be remiss not to mention at least one of its remarkable pieces. Take the 1979 Kallista, for example, one of the most expensive wristwatches ever made. It took watchmakers 6,000 hours to create Kallista and about 20 months for jewellers to enrich the watch with 118 emerald-cut diamonds. Its initial price was $5 million, but today its value is more in the $11 million range.
