Vacheron Constantin Animal Kingdom Watches

Vacheron Constantin has unveiled the Métiers d’Art Tribute to the Animal Kingdom Collection. The series comprises six unique artistic watches, each showcasing a different rare craft to depict fauna from sea, land, and sky.

According to the source report, the collection highlights techniques like gold embroidery, sculpted glass, 3D wood marquetry, featherwork, and micro-paper arts. Each timepiece is a collaboration with a specialist artisan. The launch reflects the brand's commitment to blending fine watchmaking with decorative arts, offering collectors rare expressions of creativity and cultural storytelling.

The Aquatic Models

Three watches represent the aquatic world. The Feathersnake model features a serpent motif created by micro-plumasserie specialist Julien Vermeulen. Over 200 tiny pieces from seven rare Lophophore goose feathers are applied to silk paper and a 3D metal appliqué on the dial. The Glassoctopus presents a transparent octopus sculpted dot-by-dot from glass rods using tungsten tools by artist Simone Crestani. It is set over a dark blue hand-guilloché gold dial. Another piece, the Oraygami, uses paper. It showcases six micro-origami manta rays folded by Anja Midori from self-dyed Japanese paper, mounted at varying heights on fine brass stems over a blue hand-guilloché surface with a moiré-effect crystal.

The Terrestrial Models

Land and sky are represented by three further timepieces. The Tigerbroidery captures a prowling tiger embroidered by Laura Baverstock. She used 9-karat yellow and white gold threads alongside ceramic-coated copper wires on a green silk base fitted to a perforated titanium dial plate. The Papercroc depicts an all-white crocodile amidst snow-like vegetation. Marianne Guély crafted it through laser cutting and heat-embossing 250g and 300g white cotton papers. The Woodenwings presents a falcon carved from 12 distinct wood species by Anna Le Corno. It combines circular background marquetry with sculpted layered marquetry and a feather-by-feather wing assembly cantilevered over the dial.

Technical Specifications

All six watches share a common technical foundation. They are housed in 42mm cases crafted in either 18K white gold or 18K 5N pink gold. Each features a 22K gold oscillating weight hand-engraved with artisan tool motifs, a 40-hour power reserve, and 3 bar of water resistance. To complete the thematic continuity, every piece is paired with a dedicated calfskin strap embossed with patterns that mirror the artwork on its dial. For more detailed specifications, you can explore our stats page. The collection's launch is a significant event in the luxury watch standings.

Each watch is paired with a dedicated calfskin strap embossed with patterns that mirror the artwork on its dial.