製造商: Vacheron Constantin 年份: 1961 型號: 6440 機芯編號: 546’030 錶殼號碼: 378’166 型號名稱: “Cioccolatone” 材料: 18K pink gold 機芯: Automatic, cal. K1071, 29 jewels 錶帶/ 錶鏈: Leather 錶扣: Pink tone metal buckle 尺寸: 35mm width x 43mm length 簽名: Case, dial, and movement signed 配件: Accompanied by Vacheron Constantin Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1961.
圖錄文章
From the 1950s into the 1960s, Vacheron Constantin experimented with the case architecture, focusing on bold, biomorphic shapes. No part of the case – the lugs, the bezel – was off-limits in their search to innovate and disrupt the status quo of how a watch should be formed. From this experimental spirit was born the flared, wing-like lugs of the Chronomètre Royale, the exaggerated “Cornes de Vache”, and most audacious of all, the “Cioccolatone”: an oversized, rounded-yet-square shaped wristwatch, with three layers squares almost melting atop one another. The dial’s sharply faceted indexes contrast against the smooth and sensuous lines of the case to winning effect.
While both bear the nickname “Cioccolatone”, thanks to the Italian collectors so apt at choosing nicknames, the present timepiece is in fact the successor to the reference 4737, now the reference 6440, introduced in 1957. The refreshed reference featured the automatic caliber K1071, possessing the capability to feature or not feature a date. Across the reference, fewer than twenty pieces in pink gold are known to exist, an astonishingly limited production. With an attractively patinated dial and beautifully preserved case, the present Cioccolatone is a stunning example of Vacheron’s mid-century ingenuity and a prize for the contemporary collector.
The world's oldest watch brand in continuous operation since its founding in 1755, Vacheron Constantin was the first watch company to manufacture movements with interchangeable parts beginning in 1839. Vacheron's watches are admired for their Latin-influenced case designs, well-balanced proportions and exquisitely finished movements of the highest quality. The Geneva-based manufacturer is known for their highly complicated masterpieces, including the King Farouk Grand Complication made in 1935, the Tour de l'Ile that was the most complicated serially produced wristwatch when introduced in 2005 and the 57260 — the world’s most complicated watch — made in 2015.
Key vintage models include minute repeating wristwatches such as the references 4261, chronographs such as the references 4178 and 6087 and the oversized Cioccolotone models such as ref. 4737. Collectors also appreciate Vacheron's Chronometer Royal pocket and wristwatches, as well as the '222,' the brand's first luxury sports watch produced from 1977 through 1984.
