This is one of 25 examples of the Vacheron Constantin Mtiers d'Art Les Masques* featuring a Ngontang mask of the Fang people, local to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. Produced between 2007 and 2009, the Les Masques series featured 12 masks currently in the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, originally indigenous to communities in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. This example features a 40mm rose gold case and a sapphire dial with the time, day, and date displayed by disks. Powering it is the self-winding calibre 2460 G4.
The Vacheron Constantin Mtiers d'Art collection showcases some of the finest artistic craft, encompassing areas such as engraving, guilloch work, enamelling, and gem-setting, all while maintaining the watch's technical excellence. The Les Masques collection is a group of twelve watches released between 2007 and 2009, each produced in a limited series of 25 and retailed as a boxed set of four. In that period, four watches were released each year, representing four continents Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The masks were modelled on examples in the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, which is home to the largest collection of non-Western art in the world.
The central feature of the dial is the mask, which on this edition is an example traditional to the Fang people, local to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. These Ngontang helmet masks, typically carved from a single piece of wood, were lavishly adorned and worn during masquerade ceremonies that involved dance and music. This practice dates to the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the social order in this part of the world was upended by colonialism. In fact, the shade of the masks is believed to reflect the complexion of colonisers, who the Fang people often viewed as supernatural beings. This was partly due to the fact that the colonisers often arrived by boat from faraway lands, leading the Fang to conflate them with spirits and beings from another metaphysical realm.
This particular example, with a narrow face turned to one side, features holes for the eyes and mouth, while delicate furrows represent features such as the eyebrows and the two halves of the face. Crafted from gold, details such as the nose, and the white colour on top of wood, have been faithfully reproduced by hand. The mask even includes chipped edges and other blemishes on the original that this is modelled on.
The mask is set against a sapphire dial with a yellow-green tinge. The dial features four apertures through which the hour of day, minutes, day, and date functions are displayed. Dial also features a poem by French poet and novelist, Michel Butor, that is achieved by the process of vacuum metallisation gold letters are sprayed on to the sapphire disk. The words, arranged in three concentric circles around the mask, only reveal themselves in certain light conditions. It alludes to the circularity of passing time. Loosely translated, the poem reads:
The line of my nose extends
between my eyebrows across my forehead
and on the other side
down to my chin, through my mouth
it's like an arrow shot from a bow
towards the vast heavens
beyond the clouds
or naturally the bird
into which your soul transforms.
The watch is fitted with the self-winding calibre 2460 G4, which allows for the time to be read without the use of hands. Four separate, equal-sized white discs represent the hours, minutes, day, and date. In keeping with the nature of the piece, it is yet another poetic decision to showcase the preciousness of time, irrespective of its quantum. The hours and minutes displays are digital, as is the date. Visible underneath the discs is a glimpse of the calibre.
This arrangement is paired with a 40mm rose gold case size. The angled, faceted bezel meets a rounded midcase. This part of the dial features correctors at 4 and 9 oclock to manipulate the date and French day displays. Seen through the sapphire caseback, the movement is adorned with Ctes de Genve and is topped with a gold rotor finished with grain dorge detailing. It beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, features 27 jewels and is adjusted to five positions.
The Vacheron Constantin Metiers dArts Les Masques is a rare instance where the contentious question of whether a watch can ever be considered a piece of art can definitively be answered in the affirmative.
If sold within the United Kingdom, this Vacheron Constantin Metiers d'arts Les Masques Gabon Mask LE will be subject to 20% VAT
Closer look
Brand: | Vacheron Constantin |
Model: | Metiers d'arts Les Masques Gabon Mask LE ref. 86070/000R-9402 |
Movement: | automatic calibre 2460 |
Functions: | day, date, hours, minutes |
Features: | limited edition of 25 pieces, semi-transparent dial with Gabon Mask motif and inscribed poem, 4-disc dial layout, display back |
Case material: | rose gold |
Case diameter: | 40mm |
Case thickness: | 13mm |
Lug-to-lug: | 46mm |
Crystal: | sapphire front & back |
Strap: | from our own collection, -, Vacheron Constantin rose gold butterfly deployant clasp |
Lug width: | 20 x 18mm |
Year: | c. 2009 |
Accompanying materials: | - |
Condition
This Vacheron Constantin Metiers d'arts Les Masques Gabon Mask is in excellent overall condition. The case and lugs show very light superficial marks, and only on the very surface of the material. The dial, hands, and movement are free from any signs of imperfections and have been well preserved. The hallmarks on the caseback and buckle are well defined.
Warranty
The watch comes with a two-year warranty from A Collected Man, alongside a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.