What is great about Vacheron Constantin today is that you can feel the entire manufacture unite behind their young but highly capable CEO Laurent Perves. And while he doesn’t like the limelight and is always self-effacing as a leader, modestly deferring to the “team,” this is a significant achievement unto itself. In the past, I’ve always professed a wariness of leaders that come from outside the watch industry, but Perves has proven to be a tremendous exception to this rule.

Laurent Perves

Arriving from a stint at Audemars Piguet, but previously immersed in Procter & Gamble’s Prestige fragrance division, he worked first as the Chief Marketing Officer of Vacheron, before transitioning to its Chief Commercial Officer. It was during this time that he proved himself to be deeply insightful and able to rapidly acquire the profound horological intellect necessary to helm the world’s oldest continuously operating manufacture.

What has impressed me most is that at a time when many other brands took their foot off the gas in terms of innovation and haute horlogerie, Perves continued to push Vacheron to assert itself as the current champion in this realm, with watches such as the amazing Traditionnelle Twin Beat and the fantastic Berkley Grand Complication.

Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Twin Beat Perpetual Calendar

Vacheron Constantin Berkley Grand Complication

With him at the helm during Vacheron’s 270th anniversary, we were treated to timepieces that have already written themselves into the modern history of watchmaking. Among them were the world’s most complicated wristwatch, Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grand Complication — featuring a celestial display on the caseback linked to a splits second chronograph — and La Quête du Temps, a unique automaton object where time-telling meets sculptural art, which was fittingly exhibited at the Louvre. That he achieved all this while remaining incredibly down-to-earth, kind and approachable is a testimony to his stature not only as a leader, but as a man.

Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Solaria Ultra Grande Complication La Première (©Revolution)