Swiss luxury watchmakers Vacheron Constantin are expressing their heritage of working with platinum through a new version of the Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day and Date, limited to just 100 pieces. The watchmakers of the Geneva-based house of haute horlogerie began using platinum in pocket watches in 1820 but it was not till 2006 that the first watches were issued in the Collection Excellence Platine.

Platinum is an almost magical metal to work with, having enough elasticity to be braided with silk for the exclusive hand-stitched alligator straps of the Collection, while also being 30 times rarer than gold.

As such, the Patrimony Contemporaine Retrograde Day and Date – voted Watch of the Year in 2007 – is now in a form even better suited to collectors. In terms of timekeeping and the movement, these remain unchanged from the original Retrograde Day and Date. Click here to see the Vacheron Constantin watches of 2008.