Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication 3600

In Context

At 45 mm it is a large watch — well above this catalogue’s 40 mm median, and enough to dominate a narrow wrist. At 13.6 mm it is a tall case, and it will catch on a cuff. The sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse.

The movement is hand-wound, so winding it becomes part of the day rather than something the watch does for you. 504 hours of reserve puts it well past a weekend — several days off the wrist and it is still going. At 18,000 vph the seconds hand advances 5 times a second, the slower and more audible rate of an older design.

9720C/000G-B281 stands on its own in this catalogue — no other reference here shares its base number. It pairs a grey dial with a white gold case. It was a limited edition. Introduced in 2017.

Vacheron Constantin's caliber 3600 was launched during SIHH 2017 as part of its high-mech Les Cabinotiers series. It features an abundance of astronomical functions, in addition to 6 barrels providing for a power reserve of three weeks, and a tourbillon escapement. It consists of 514 parts including 64 jewels, and measures 8.7mm in height. The full list of functions as provided by Vacheron Constantin is per following; Hours, minutes, perpetual calendar, day/night indication, precision moon phase, age of the moon, running equation of time, sunrise and sunset time, day and night length, seasons, solstices, equinoxes and zodiacal signs, tide level indicator, Sun-Earth-Moon conjunction, opposition and quadrature, transparent sky chart of the northern hemisphere with indication of the Milky Way, of the ecliptic and celestial equator, hours and minutes of sidereal time, tourbillon, 3 weeks of power reserve (6 barrels), power reserve indication.