One day while he was visiting the studio of famous designer Roger Pfund, whose achievements include the Swiss passport, the product marketing director of Vacheron Constantin, Christian Selmoni, was struck by a mural depicting an enlarged banknote. He didn’t yet realise it, but Vacheron Constantin was on the verge of entering a whole new dimension.

The powerful impression made by this graphic design led him to question this world-renowned specialist in the creation of banknotes about the use of technologies hitherto unheard of in the watchmaking world: security inks and invisible inks detectable only under ultra-violet light, micro-printing and hidden writing, latent images and markings reserved for banknotes and passports. This uncharted territory opened up previously unimagined new vistas for our watchmaking explorer who was strongly motivated by these prospects. Once the brand’s momentous 250th anniversary celebrations were wrapped up, Christian Selmoni began working with two people in his team on defining the applicability of these cutting-edge methods to the artistic and hand-craftsmanship values of the Manufacture in Planles- Ouates. The Roger Pfund studio also assigned to designers to the project. The two groups of specialists had to learn to speak the same language and to grasp the constraints implied by their respective fields of expertise. Two SIHH exhibitions later, the Quai de l’Ile was to complete transform the extremely traditional image of Vacheron Constantin. This metamorphosis is due not only to its personalisation concept (see the cover article titled “400 variations on the Quai de l’Ile), but also because of the concentrated blend of innovations featured in its dial (for which four patents have been filed).

Ultrasound baths
The dial of the Quai de l’Ile is distinguished by two levels of innovation governed by two distinct goals: aesthetics and security. While a powerful magnifying glass enables one to appreciate 90% of the dial decoration (strange and striking depth, relief and transparency effects), the remaining 10% remains camouflaged by the invisible inks serving as a solid rampart against counterfeits. A first level of innovations on the sapphire crystals had already been displayed in the famous Masques collection launched last year, such as the galvanic growth of metal with gold layering, a process consisting of making a predefined shape grow on an ultrasound-washed and non-abrasive micro-sandblasted crystal. The sapphire crystal of the Quai de l’Ile also bears inscriptions made by laser engraving with and without inking, and by metallization of other parts: a thin layer of white gold is vaporised onto the surface but remains invisible without a magnifying instrument.

Meanwhile, the second level of innovations relates to the transparent security film applied beneath the sapphire crystal (on the calibre side), made from the same chemical composition as banknotes. It is subjected to a range of precise and highly technical processes: security printing, ultraviolet markings using invisible ink, the printing of microsigns: hundreds of tiny Maltese crosses and concentric circles, along with tiny concentric circles representing the spiral of time, are also featured. These substrates and these inks are not available on the open market, since they are normally the exclusive preserve of governments. Vacheron Constantin therefore worked with the suppliers who make the Swiss passport, thus effectively combining art and technology. The latter being by nature progressive, Christian Selmoni is doubtless already thinking about future potential applications to other Vacheron Constantin watches