In the middle of the 18th Century, in the city of Geneva, a young man called Jean-Marc Vacheron decided to open his own watch-making workshop. This exceptional craftsman founded a business that was to become, two and a half centuries later, one of the most renowned in the science of time.
1755: Foundation of Vacheron Constantin.
1770: 15 years after its foundation, Vacheron Constantin creates its first 'complication' watches.
1779: First appearance of engine-turned dials at
Vacheron Constantin.
1810: The grandson of Jean-Marc Vacheron,
Jaques-Barthélemy, takes the head of the family business and initiates the brand's first exports to France and Italy.1812: Creation of a collection of watches of six quarter-repeater watches. These watches strike the hours and the quarters upon request.
1819: Jaques-Barthélemy, grandson of Jean-Marc Vacheron together with François Constantin creates the company name "Vacheron et Constantin".
In this year on 5th July, François Constantin sends from Turin a letter to Jaques Barthélémy Vacheron containing the words that were to become the company motto:
"Do better if possible and that is always possible".
1839: Georges-Auguste Leschot is taken on as production engineer in 1839 and proceeds to revolutionize watch-making techniques by adapting the pantograph to the requirements of his industry.
With the use of that instrument, certain watch components can be copied repeatedly by a machine, and no longer need to be hand-made as before, thus propelling Vacheron Constantin to the forefront of the industrial age.1872: When the very demanding Geneva Observatory staged a precision contest for timepieces in 1872, Vacheron Constantin entered a number of its watches. The awards won proved to be the first in a long line of awards, records and prizes received.
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