Reacting to The Most Important Vacheron Constantin Watches Ever

To kick off the year, let’s start with looking at a watch from the past. This watch seemed to, in a way, go unnoticed by the larger watch community. Of course, there were plenty of people who knew about this incredible watch from Vacheron Constantin, but with only 10,000 views on the YouTube video posted by Phillips, it seems like it deserves more recognition.

The watch is an incredibly historic yellow gold minute repeater wristwatch with day and retrograde date manufactured by Vacheron Constantin the late 1930’s, delivered in 1940 that was commissioned by a very important collector. Vacheron Constantin received a letter from “Madrid-based retailer Brooking who, on behalf of highly successful Spanish businessman, Francisco Martinez Llano, wished to commission a watch”. Don Pancho, who Llano was nicknamed, worked closely with the manufacture to create the watch he desired. The watch was eventually delivered and bore the double signature of Brooking and Vacheron, and was a technical accomplishment being one of the first minute repeater and calendar with retrograde date in a tonneau case. 60 years later would something similar to be delivered.

The watch remained with the family until it was discovered and brought to Phillips. The dial was not in the best of shapes, so Phillips worked closely with Vacheron Constantin and their archives to create a one-to-one copy of the original dial. The video will have more information about this process.

The auction listing for this watch can be found here and the original video can be found here. Check out the reaction video for more.

Enjoy!