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.