Hands On: Vacheron Constantin Armillary Tourbillon “Myth of the Pleiades”

The two-axis tourbillon with a mythological twist.

Vacheron Constantin’s 270th anniversary Les Cabinotiers offerings include a variation on a theme with the Armillary Tourbillon “Myth of the Pleiades”. Having been introduced several years ago, the Armillary Tourbillon is a double-axis regulator with a bi-retrograde time display. This unique iteration is dressed entirely in yellow gold, and intricately hand engraved across all of the case surfaces.

Initial thoughts

The Armillary Tourbillon “Myth of the Pleiades” channels the same celestial inspiration found on the other 270th anniversary watches into mythological storytelling, blending the brand’s signature double-axis tourbillon with sculptural engraving.

Still inspired by the stars, this unique piece takes its theme from the Greek myth of the Pleiades — seven sisters transformed into stars who have guided sailors for millennia.

The watch is as much about artistic expression as it is about mechanics. The heavily open-worked dial exposes much of the movement beneath, showcasing the double retrograde system for the hours and minutes. The champagne-toned bridges share the same warm hue as the Cosmica Duo, while the finishing throughout is of the highest standard.

The cal. 1990 inside remains as appealing as ever, with skeletonised snail cams and beautiful swirling levers for the retrograde works, all tightly packed on the right side of the dial. The blued hands point to a numbered half-circle sector, which is useful since reading the time on this “halved” format is uncommon. Due to the heavy skeletonised nature of the calibre, legibility inevitably takes second place to spectacle

On the left side is the large tourbillon assembly, which revolves on two axis: one co-axial with the balance wheel staff and the second perpendicular to the staff. The 2.5 Hz regulator features a spherical hairspring — a very uncommon sight. The model is COSC certified while also carrying the Geneva Seal.

The main attraction of the Myth of the Pleiades unique piece has to be the overly ornate case. The caseband features scenes depicting Orion — a mythical figure waging war on the Pleiades, along with the Argos ship sailing over sea of monsters. The hand engravings have an organic and truly artisanal feel to them, which cannot be replicated by other metal working techniques.

The bezel and lugs are engraved with fine spiralling patterns which remind of Greek and Mediterranean decorations. The casework might feel too much, but seeing the celestial theme approached from a less scientific point of view shows that VC is as skilled in whimsical decoration as it is in precision engineering. Finishing the case of this single piece took 450 hours of painstaking engraving work.