Imagine a classic, complicated mid-century gentleman’s watch that exemplifies the traditional world of Swiss watchmaking. You might just be picturing the Ref. 4261 by Vacheron Constantin, a minute repeater from the prestigious Geneva brand. Introduced in the early 1940s in a 34 mm case with a sector dial and beguiling teardrop lugs, not to mention a challenging-to-produce extra-flat caliber, the piece is considered a grail watch by collectors—especially the second series, whose 13-ligne movement without subsidiary seconds came packaged in a 36 mm case (rather large for the time).
Produced until the mid-1950s, the height of vintage watchmaking’s golden age, this exceedingly elegant minute repeating wristwatch is extremely rare. “It is commonly believed that a combined total of less than 40 reference 4261s were made, cased first in yellow and pink gold and later in platinum, with a variety of dial colors and designs," according to Christie’s. Catch one if you can.
From the article by Allen Farmelo, Paige Reddinger, Victoria Gomelsky, Oren Hartov, Blake Buettner
