An early high point for the year (lots of pictures)

[mlcor]

It's been a busy year, with three watches leaving the fold and two joining (the GO and the Snowflake). I had planned out the year, and only one more watch was going to join. I had originally thought I was going to pull the trigger on a Royal Oak, but as it was his grail, Geoff forbade me from doing so in another thread, therefore I decided to take a different approach. (Just kidding, Geoff, the RO is still on the possible list for 2016).

One hole in my collection is a true dress watch. I have several very nice watches that are dressy, but none that I consider a "pure" dress watch, i.e., just hours, minutes and a small seconds (yes, I know, a truly pure one wouldn't have a seconds hand, but I'm not fond of those). I do wear suits a fair amount of the time, and I can therefore justify (OK, rationalize) owning a nice dress watch. So I started searching over a year ago, looking at pretty much everything out there in the market (new, not vintage). I wanted one with class, elegance, and history. Something that was pure, but not so boring as to be uninteresting. I was willing to spend a fair amount, since this will be (most likely) my only dress watch. I started looking at the basic hand wound models of the usual suspects--Patek, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, JLC, Piaget, Lange, etc. The basic Patek model, although beautifully done, seemed too plain to me. Same with the Lange Saxonia, plus I wasn't a big fan of the hands. JLC's manual wind watch didn't do anything for me, plus I already own one JLC. I didn't want the 9:00 location of the small seconds on the Piaget.

In the end, I knew what I wanted, and over the past year, I've continued to stalk it, trying to justify the price in my mind. I had pretty much decided I would pull the trigger some time later this year. But then, the mischievous watch sprites struck. You know, the ones who come along with a great, limited time offer? Jomashop had the exact model I wanted on sale--31% off MSRP. The best I had seen before that was around 20% off. I agonized for several days, repeatedly going back to the website to see if it was still there. Finally, I decided I'd never see a price like that again, and pushed the button.

When I got back to the office today, there was a box.



...and inside, another box.



...and inside, in addition to a watch, a smaller travel box:



The inside has storage space for the watch and accessories, etc.:



The watch, you say? See next post...

[mlcor]

This is subjective, I know, but here is what I think is the most beautiful, manual wind, upscale simple dress watch out there--the Patrimony Traditionelle:



Visually, I find it more interesting than the "entry level" Patek and Lange models. I like the minute track, and the decoration around the small seconds subdial. I tried to blow up some details, let's see if they work. One shows the super subtle, not visible without a closeup guilloché on the seconds subdial, as well as those beautifully done hands. The other shows the VC Maltese Cross symbol as well.



The case dimensions are 38mm x 7.77mm, a perfect dress watch size, IMO. The details of the case are excellent, as you would expect.



Movement next post...

[CFR]

[QUOTE=mlcor;95710]This is subjective, I know, but here is what I think is the most beautiful, manual wind, upscale simple dress watch out there--the Patrimony Traditionelle:



These things are always subjective, but I agree with you... 100%! Beauiful piece. Just...well...amazing!

Huge congratulations, mlcor. Enjoy this magnificent piece for many, many years!

[Der Amf]

This is subjective, I know, but here is what I think is the most beautiful, manual wind, upscale simple dress watch out there--the Patrimony Traditionelle:

(Snip)

By the way, I think VC have renamed this simply the "Traditionelle" and the Patrimony Contemporaine is now just called the "Patrimony"



on their website they are now presented as two separate collections

[mlcor]

By the way, I think VC have renamed this simply the "Traditionelle" and the Patrimony Contemporaine is now just called the "Patrimony"
on their website they are now presented as two separate collections

Well, at least it makes the name less pretentious. On my box, it still had both names, so this must be pretty recent.

BTW, surprisingly, in addition to the Jomashop warranty card, the original stamped warranty card from the AD was included. In the unlikely event there's a warranty issue, I should be able to send it directly to VC, I guess.

[Der Amf]

Well, at least it makes the name less pretentious. On my box, it still had both names, so this must be pretty recent.

BTW, surprisingly, in addition to the Jomashop warranty card, the original stamped warranty card from the AD was included. In the unlikely event there's a warranty issue, I should be able to send it directly to VC, I guess.

Yes it was recent, I can't remember exactly when, sorry. Less than a year?

[mlcor]

The movement is the in house 4400, manual wind, single barrel, with a 65 hour power reserve, beating at a modern 28,800 vph. The finishing is extraordinary, and the watch carries the Geneva Seal. Again, I've tried to get a couple of closeup shots.



You can see how every edge is beveled, and every single part is decorated, even those that will remain invisible. The movement also is supposed to be quite robust and easy to service.

Finally, a couple of wrist shots:



Almost forgot a shot of the buckle:



I hadn't planned on being done with the year's purchases the first week of April, but I just couldn't let my dream dress watch go by at that price. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

[tempocalypse]

Simply wow! The Patrimony is I think one of the truly definitive dress watches. Congrats!

[Henry Krinkle]

Just...gorgeous. Wonderful piece. Congratulations. I love the hands!

[uchinanchu]

Absolutely gorgeous, congrats sir!!!