For some collectors, the sight of a tonneau watch instantly leads to an evocation of a shaped movement, which is somehow more emotionally gratifying than the union between a circular movement and a shaped case.

Such is the case with Vacheron Constantin’s Malte Tourbillon Regulator, which fuses shaped manual-winding caliber 1790R to a tonneau case in either 950 platinum or 18K pink gold.

The scions of Geneva are justly famed for their regulators and their finishing skills, and they are in fine form with this piece. The dial itself boasts five different finishing touches – snailing, guillochage, opaline, vertical satining and circular satining – that complement the regulator’s historic place as the clearest display of time.

Obviously, the crowning achievement here is the tourbillon, executed in inimitable Vacheron Constantin fashion, with 11 hours needed to produce the distinctive conical and semi-cylindrical shape of the tourbillon bridge.

www.vacheron-constantin.com