The Allure of Light and Shadow: Appreciation of the Vacheron Constantin Malte Squelette Tourbillon

     The Malte Squelette Tourbillon embodies Vacheron Constantin's unique expertise in creating complex complication watches. In this timepiece, the tourbillon is housed within an entirely skeletonised movement, fully developed and manufactured in-house by Vacheron Constantin, and stamped with the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva. Such an exceptional watch is a rare masterpiece, even in the world of Haute Horlogerie.
     AtVacheron Constantin, the development of technical excellence and the exploration of style have always progressed hand in hand. The very first Vacheron Constantin watch, created by Jean-Marc Vacheron in 1755, already featured a skeletonised balance cock, laying the foundation for Vacheron Constantin's pursuit of transparency and lightness over the years, a quest that reached its peak between 1920 and 1990. During this period, Vacheron Constantin created numerous skeletonised movements of varying complexity for pocket watches and wristwatches. This year, Vacheron Constantin has chosen to explore new possibilities in the fine art of skeletonisation on the major complication of the tourbillon.


A highly challenging exploration in the field of horology
     To fully develop and manufacture a tonneau-shaped movement in-house, a manufacture must master mechanical horology. To skeletonise this movement, making it extremely light, three-dimensional, and presenting a striking play of light and shadow, is even more of a challenge. The latest Calibre 2790 SQ movement, housed in the Malte Squelette Tourbillon launched by Vacheron Constantin, achieves this perfectly.
      This movement represents the collective wisdom of Vacheron Constantin's finest watchmakers and master artisans. They spent over 500 hours on conception, modelling, and design to ensure this movement perfectly integrates a fully functional tourbillon with transparent skeletonisation. From different angles, subtle interplays of light and shadow can be seen within the movement, a three-dimensional effect further enhanced by the architectural decorative patterns created using a new hand-engraving technique.


An exploration of style centred around geometric structures
     Geometric shapes have always inspired great builders, architects, and artists, allowing them to play with light and shadow according to the sun's position, or to combine layered basic geometric elements into pyramid shapes with chiaroscuro effects. Inspired by these, Vacheron Constantin has designed an original architectural decorative pattern based on triangles, offering a unique interpretation of hand-engraving. Vacheron Constantin's artisans have brilliantly finished the surfaces of the Calibre 2790 SQ movement components, once again demonstrating their profound artistic mastery. Before hand-decorating and chamfering the 246 components of this movement, the engraver carves multiple small triangles formed by repeating straight lines to create a three-dimensional effect. The engraving of these small triangles is extremely delicate, sometimes down to just a tenth of a millimetre. This geometric mosaic pattern forms architectural graphics, presenting a stunning three-dimensional effect through light and shadow, which is further enhanced by the elegant and delicate tourbillon carriage.


“ An exceptional watch certified by the Hallmark of Geneva ”
     The exceptional Calibre 2790 SQ movement features a captivating construction, complete with a date display and a power reserve indicator, with the movement's outer edge fitting snugly into the tonneau-shaped platinum case. Like the caseback, the dial is made of sapphire crystal, with a slate-grey outer ring adorned with elegant metal hour markers. The minute track is painted, while the scales for the date, power reserve, and seconds indicators are engraved and printed. The tourbillon carriage, located at 6 o'clock, is adorned with a Maltese cross, which rotates alongside the small seconds hand. The Malte Squelette Tourbillon is stamped with the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva. The Hallmark of Geneva is the highest standard in Haute Horlogerie, certifying the quality, craftsmanship, and durability of fine timepieces produced within the Canton of Geneva.

Technical Specifications
Malte Squelette Tourbillon
Reference  30135/000P-9842
Certified by the Hallmark of Geneva
Movement  2790 SQ
Developed and manufactured in-house by Vacheron Constantin
Manual-winding mechanical movement
27.37 x 29.30 mm (12 ’’’ ¼  x 12 ’’’ ¾ )
Thickness 6.10 mm
Approximately 45 hours of power reserve
2.5 Hz (18,000 vph)
246 components
27 jewels
Indication of    hours, minutes, and small seconds on the tourbillon carriage at 6 o'clock
Power reserve
the date
Tourbillon  
Case  950 platinum
38.00 x 48.24 mm, thickness 12.73 mm
Transparent sapphire crystal caseback
Tested at a pressure of 3 bar (approx. 30 metres)
Dial   inner: sapphire crystal, engraved and ink-printed indications
Outer: opaline and slate-grey metal rings, painted minute track and metal applied hour-markers
Strap   hand-stitched black rectangular-scale Mississippiensis alligator leather
Clasp  950 platinum triple-blade folding clasp
Polished half Maltese cross-shaped design