Swiss house of haute horlogerie Vacheron Constantin announced this year a new chapter in its Métiers d’Art Tribute to Great Explorers limited series of watches. In keeping with its heritage and status as the oldest continuously operating house of fine watchmaking , the two new watches are impressively engineered and beautifully executed. In fact, it is the brand’s commitment to certain fundamental elements of craft and tradition that gives credence to the name Métiers d’Art.

This year, the great house honors Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus. As in 2004, when the Great Explorers series was launched, the movement provides a unique display of time while the multi-level dial is in the ‘grand feu’ style. Time is read off using the hour marker, which travels from left to right across the lower portion of the dial. The minute reading is taken using the same marker, which acts as hand pointing out the correct time via the minute markers on the sunken part of the dial. Interestingly, the earlier versions – honoring Magellan and Zheng Hé – recently sold at a Sotheby’s auction for HK$800,000.

www.vacheron-constantin.com