Historiques Ultra-Fine 1955 Platinum / Silver

In Context

At 36 mm it is classically proportioned: the size a dress watch was understood to be for most of the twentieth century, and small enough to sit under a cuff. The 4.13 mm case is genuinely slim and goes under a shirt cuff without argument. The case back is open, so the movement is visible without taking the watch apart, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. Rated to 30 m, it is protected against rain and splashes and nothing beyond that.

The movement is hand-wound, so winding it becomes part of the day rather than something the watch does for you. Its 31-hour reserve wants wearing most days; leave it off and it stops. At 18,000 vph the seconds hand advances 5 times a second, the slower and more audible rate of an older design.

33155/000P-B169 stands on its own in this catalogue — no other reference here shares its base number. It pairs a silver dial with a platinum case. Introduced in 2016.

Basic (hour-minute) handwound movement with 18 jewels and a total of 117 parts. Hallmark of Geneva certified. Work on its development began in 1952 in L’Ile (the building on the Rhone River ‘island’ that has housed Vacheron Constantin’s historical premises since 1875) and it was presented for the brand bicentenary celebrations in 1955 under the name Calibre 1003. Its 9-lignes or 21.05 mm diameter and 1.64 mm thickness have made it the world’s smallest mechanical manual-winding movement on the market. By way of comparison, this micromechanical masterpiece composed of 120 parts is about the size of a small Swiss 20-centime coin. This now legendary calibre (of which the excellence was to be confirmed by the subsequent orders placed by other great names in fine watchmaking) was used to equip three round watches that set a new record as the world’s thinnest watches measuring just 4.54 mm thick

1 other watch in the library runs the Vacheron Constantin 1003.

Vacheron Constantin

Historiques Ultra-Fine 1955 Pink Gold / Silver

33155/000R-9588 · 36 mm