Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle

the variants of Traditionnelle ref. 82172 leading up to CEP (Collection Excellence Platine)

Thank you for all the love and kind feedback on my first post - It’s Only Time - featuring a brief introduction to Vacheron’s staple dress watches. You might be wondering why the Traditionnelle deserves its own whole article. Hold onto your pitch forks, read till the end then decide if I ought to be staked.

Ref. 82172

Launched in 2009 with a pink gold case and opaline dial, this manually wound small seconds ref. 82172/000R is the first time we saw a time-only function featured in a very sensible 38mm x 7.77mm Traditionnelle case.

In 2013, they launched a platinum variant with slate grey dial, and then a white gold case with silver dial the next year. One of my favourite rendition of ref. 82172 is a rose gold case with black guilloché dial that Vacheron released in 2014 to celebrate their first boutique in Ginza, Tokyo. There’s just something very alluring about a cool black dial on warm metal case.

*Ref. 82172/000P. Image credit: Vacheron Constantin*

*Ref. 82172/000R-9808 Tokyo Limited Edition (20 pcs) image credit: Watchonista*

While I personally love the manually wound Cal.4400, there are a few gorgeous automatic Traditionnelles.

Self-Winding

First up is ref. 43075, a 41mm self-winding Traditionnelle launched in 2012. Some of you traditionalists (pun intended) might balk at the case size. What if I told you this automatic reference is only 7.25mm thick, a good 0.5mm thinner than the manually wound ref. 82172 (7.77mm). This is made possible by the use of Vacheron’s Calibre 1120, an ultra-thin central rotor movement that is based on the oft-exalted JLC ébauche Cal 920 which is also favoured by Audemars Piguet (Cal 2121).

If you found the 41mm Traditionnelle case too big for your liking but still prefer the convenience of not having to wind your watch daily, Vacheron got you covered with their reference 87172. In an elegant 38mm case, this watch features Vacheron’s workhorse Cal. 2455/1. To top it off, they even included a date and small seconds display.

*Ref. 87172, Traditionnelle Self-winding. Pic Credit: Vacheron Constantin*

Now that you have seen so many variants of Traditionnelle, you probably can recognise some signature details. Double-stepped flanks, applied baton indices, railway minute tracks, dauphine hands. Let us look at each element using ref. 82172/CEP that was launched in 2019 as an example.

Case Design

Compared to its more fanciful brethren Cornes de Vache or American 1921, the case design of Traditionnelle ref. 82172 is very unassuming, but also discreetly iconic. Looking at it from the front or head-on, you wouldn’t realise this case has a double-stepped construction, a nifty trick to hide any potential thickness.

*Ref 82172, Traditionnelle Collection Excellence Platine (CEP), launched in 2019*

Look closer and you’ll see the case has a wider middle girth to house grand complications as seen in their seminal Twin-Beat or Perpetual Calendar Chronograph.

That to me is the success of great design, a perfect blend of form and function, topped-off with a proper dose of forward planning.

*Case side profile as seen at 6 o’clock, with a secret inscription of ‘PT’ on the wider middle band*

Lugs

We already know Vacheron is the undisputed King of Lugs 🐮🦀💧. Don’t be fooled by its deceptively simple straight lugs, this Traditionnelle has a little secret. Inspecting the side profile, you realise its double-stepped lines flow continuously from case to lugs, drawing your eyes to a tapering-off. That’s where you find an interesting inflection on the underside. Placing the watch on a flat surface, is when you realise its ingenuity. Its angled tips are the only contact points with the surface, allowing the caseback to levitate. Mindblown.

Hands

Perhaps the easiest way to differentiate between Traditionnelle and ‘the other’ classic dress watch from VC are the hands and indices. Unlike the slender baton hands of Patrimony, Traditionnelle has bi-faceted dauphine hands where one side is mirror-polished, other side sandblasted. Even without lume, I can almost always read the time as long as there’s a flicker of light.

Under certain angles, the mirror-polished side will look ‘black’, which is why this type of finishing is also sometimes called Black Polishing. Moving towards 6 o’clock is the running seconds hand. Notice how it isn’t flat but more shaft-like. Yet, even this rod is totally polished. You shouldn’t be surprised then, to see the circular mounting plate also has anglage.

Indices

Each applied hour index is a 3-D cuboid with bevelled edges, and it sits perfectly on one bar of ‘railway’ minute marker. Tilting the watch slightly, I saw some light reflected on the dial, realised that even the flanks of the index is mirror-polished. All this for a ‘regular’ production watch?

Dial

Here is where we veer slightly from the standard production ref. 82172. For this 75-piece limited edition Traditionnelle, we have a metal dial except this isn’t merely brass. It is made of PT950 - an alloy of up to 95% platinum, the highest grade of platinum. How do I know? Well…

This exclusive treatment is reserved for a special line of watches that Vacheron calls - Collection Excellence Platine (CEP). You can think of CEP like the AMG line of Mercedes; taking an existing production model and sprucing it up aesthetically.

TLDR: Everything Platinum, wherever possible.
Really? Everything? With that slight disbelief, we arrive onto the last aesthetic element:

Strap

Scroll back, pinch zoom if you have to. Look at the stitching. The chrome coiling is actually Platinum wire interwoven around white silk thread. Perhaps only a full PT950 beads-of-rice bracelet will be crazier than this (hint hint).

Calibre 4400AS

On the flip side, we have one of the most beautiful manual wound movement that is ‘mass’ produced; assuming you consider Vacheron’s 30,000+ annual production which is just half of what either Patek or AP produces, a large number.

Cal.4400AS was first used by Vacheron in their cushion case, ‘twisted’ dial American 1941 in 2008. Just one year later, it was featured in ref. 82172, Traditionnelle.

Visually speaking, the two full-span bridges conveys a sense of completeness, reminiscent of old pocket watches. It also hides more ‘industrial’ looking parts like the mainspring barrel. My personal guess is that such a layout also makes it easier for watchmakers to service the movement.

Then there’s the case-movement ratio. At 28.6mm diameter, Cal.4400 fits the 38mm case very well. In essence, it is a modern day movement suited for modern case sizes.

*Cal 4400 as seen in ref. 82172 Traditionnelle CEP. Peeking through the pin hole is a special stamp.*

Every single part is polished and finished to meet the lofty standards of Geneva seal. Perlage, anglage, Côtes de Genève, black-polish, brush-polish, you name it and Vacheron has it on this Cal.4400.

*How many types of finishing can you spot here?*

Parting Words

As the name suggests, Traditionnelle is a nod to Vacheron’s watchmaking roots, which is a very deep one (since 1755). I’ll even go out on a limb to say that Traditionnelle is fast becoming the icon for Vacheron Constantin dress watches. Like my watch collecting journey, ref. 82172 may be quite young but I am sure it will prove to be seminal in many more years to come.

TLDR: Ref. 82172 - Start your own Tradition