This year, Vacheron Constantin celebrates its now classic Patrimony Collection’s 20th anniversary. Launched in 2004, the line of watches was inspired by a 1957 model from the watchmaker, concealing its intricate makings with a minimalist style. Watches from this collection are recognizable for their round case, slim bezel, domed dial, slender hour-markers, and curved hands.
To celebrate the milestone, Vacheron Constantin tapped longtime collaborator and “One of Not Many” talent, French designer Ora Ïto. He created a vintage-inspired all-yellow-gold piece, creating texture with concentric circles on the dial that shimmer in the light. The design is a reference to astronomy and the phenomenon of a lunar eclipse, called Baily’s Beads. With an in-house self-winding Calibre 2450 with hours, minutes, and seconds, it’s paired with a burgundy calfskin strap. Whitewall spoke with Ïto about what he shares with the watchmaker, particularly a question for perfection.
Portrait of Ora Ïto courtesy of Vacheron Constantin.
WHITEWALL: What was the starting point for your collaboration with Vacheron Constantin?
ORA ÏTO: I’ve been working with Vacheron Constantin since 2018, via the “One of Not Many” campaign for which I embody the Patrimony collection.
WW: What drew you to the Patrimony collection?
OI: For me, it’s the archetypal watch. It may look simple at first glance, but in reality it hides an incredible complexity and a wealth of details. It echoes my conception of design, which can be summed up with the term “simplexity.”
Courtesy of Vacheron Constantin.
A Symbiosis Between Two Creative Worlds
WW: What was your approach to this 20th anniversary piece? What essence of the collaboration did you want to capture?
OI: I worked with a whole team at Vacheron Constantin, from the designers to the watchmakers and guilloché artisan. We thought about different creative avenues and came up with several design proposals. We then chose the one that was most in keeping with Vacheron Constantin’s history and DNA, as well as with the character of the Patrimony collection. The creation was also a symbiosis between two worlds, my own and that of Vacheron Constantin.
I reinterpreted the Patrimony following my motto of “simplexity.” The collection, as I mentioned earlier, symbolizes this notion; the new watch also had to follow this path. In addition to the piece as a whole, the concept of “simplexity” can be found in the guilloché work on the dial. Vacheron Constantin has the best guilloché craftsman in the world in its Métiers d’Arts workshop, so working with him was both an obvious part of the project and a real privilege.
“Vacheron Constantin has the best guilloché craftsman in the world in its Métiers d’Arts workshop, so working with him was both an obvious part of the project and a real privilege,”
Ora Ïto
Patrimony Perpetual Calendar Ultra-thin blue dial; Courtesy of Vacheron Constantin.
A Shared Quest for Perfection
WW: Can you tell us about the choice of a monochrome timepiece in gold?
OI: My idea was to create a one-piece object, to unify the dial and the case, to ensure that the inside and the outside were one; this was achieved in particular by extending the color to the inside of the dial, which is golden like the yellow gold case.
WW: And the design on the face?
OI: I wanted this piece to absorb light. I’m passionate about astronomy and I was inspired by an astronomical phenomenon known as “the Pearls of Baily,” a spectacle that accompanies an eclipse of the sun by the moon and consists of circular movements of light. I wanted to highlight the guilloché and give it a real role in the watch’s personality. It gives the watch a sunny side, to the point where it becomes a talisman that opens the doors to an enchanted universe. The circular guilloché that the Vacheron Constantin craftsman has done looks simple, but it is complex. It’s amazing to see how these very fine regular reliefs carved into the material catch the light to the point of creating vibrations. I really like this play of light, which has a kinetic quality that is so simple. There’s a sense of movement, as if the watch were a living organism vibrating with time.
“There’s a sense of movement, as if the watch were a living organism vibrating with time,”
Ora Ïto
WW: You’ve collaborated with other watchmakers. For you, what makes Vacheron Constantin so unique?
OI: Its shared values that have brought us together: creativity, the notion of aesthetics, the quest for perfection.
Courtesy of Vacheron Constantin.
