Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Skeleton

There are moments in watchmaking when a brand steps out from behind the curtain and says, here, look closely, we are proud of this. The Patrimony Skeleton from the 1990s is one of those moments. It doesn’t try to hide the workbench. It puts every gear, every bridge, every mark of a craftsman’s hand directly in your line of sight and leaves you to take it all in.

The first thing you notice is the framework. The entire calibre 1120/1 has been carved open until it looks suspended in air. This isn’t a simple cutaway. It’s full transparency built by artisans who spent generations refining how thin a bridge can be while still holding a heartbeat. Every surface is hand-engraved with patterns that shift between floral lines, star motifs and the kind of scrollwork that makes you pause because you know someone did this with nothing more than a graver and a steady hand. You can even see the Vacheron Constantin logo woven into the movement architecture itself, not stamped on top, but engineered into the structure like a hidden signature in a painting.

Then the colour story hits you. The white gold case stays cool. The bevels pick up light in a clean, icy way, while the warm yellow gold gears underneath break through the framework like small sunlit rooms. Turn it over and the 21 karat gold rotor immediately steals attention. It arcs around the movement with engraved lettering that isn’t machine perfect. It feels personal. You can sense the engraver who left their own handwriting in metal, a tiny human fingerprint in a very technical landscape.

Around all of this sits a slim bezel set with factory diamonds. They don’t scream bling. They add a subtle flash when the watch turns, but they blend into the white gold enough that the open work still gets top billing. And the case itself refuses to stay conventional. What looks round at first glance is actually a pentadecagonal form, fifteen subtle ridges that soften the outline and give it a quiet rhythm when viewed from the front. It’s the type of detail you only find on pieces where designers were given permission to play.

Despite being an automatic, the watch remains impressively slim. The black leather strap and white gold Maltese cross buckle complete the story, tying the emblem on the clasp back to the emblem floating inside the movement. This is the kind of piece that takes you down a rabbit hole. Every look brings up something you didn’t catch before. It’s the reason people fall for vintage Vacheron in the first place. They were never in a hurry. They took their time and it shows.