Swiss luxury watch house Vacheron Constantin has opened the doors of its first North American flagship shop, located on New York’s East 57th Street.
The store is the company’s largest yet, boasting 4,500 square feet spread across two floors, separated by a winding staircase with bronze vertical columns inspired by 19th century architecture. It offers the brand’s complete timepiece collection in addition to boutique-specific exclusives and the first permanent “Les Collectionneurs” collection, a carefully curated, special selection of vintage pieces from the 20th century that have been restored in-house and are available for sale with the same warranty afforded to the brand’s contemporary watches.
The opening also marks the 100th anniversary of the “American 1921,” a tilted-dial wristwatch devised specifically for the American market. The success of the timepiece in the United States reflects in many ways the dreams of founder Jacques Barthélémi Vacheron, who was set on making Vacheron Constantin a household name among well-heeled society in America.
On view in celebration of the anniversary is an exhibition exploring Vacheron’s star-studded American history through watches from the personal collections of the Rockefeller family, Henry and William James, and Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor, among others. (Brando’s watch, funnily enough, is inscribed with a note that reads “to Marlon love Zsa Zsa June 24 1954.” Make of that what you will.)
The flagship also opened with a striking installation done in collaboration with the Chris Burden estate, which marks the first time the estate has worked with a luxury brand.
During a soft opening event earlier this summer, Alexander Schmiedt, the new president of Vacheron Constantin Americas, explained that the brand chose to collaborate with the Burden estate on the project because of the artist’s ability to marry mechanical innovation with art and fun.
