With the end of World War II, there was renewed optimism for the future. Countries began to rebuild, and war factories returned to civilian production. In the arts, artists and designers looked beyond their historical past, and together with changing consumer tastes, shaped a new modern look and feel in architecture, furniture and design. Mid-Century modernism challenged traditional concepts, and built upon the clean sleek lines of the Bauhaus and International movements. As early as 1949, Max Bill of the Swiss Werkbund organized traveling exhibitions called Gute Form (Good Form). These shows reached a broad audience, and demonstrated the merging of form and function.

Vacheron Constantin’s Cornucopia, as collectors affectionately refer to it, is a wonderful example of this newfound exuberance. The oversized flared lugs amplify the case, giving it a larger than life feel. The watch is transformed from a tool into a biomorphic design. Pattern and ornamentation are replaced by bare surfaces and revealed structures. With the VXN code on the movement, the watch was destined for the United States, which was establishing a new democratic way in a post war world. The watch is in lovely overall condition, with an original, crisp silver guilloché dial. The new aesthetic of the mid 20th century is perfectly exemplified by the Cornucopia.