The Royal Eagle refers to a series contemporary and technical wristwatch line launched by Vacheron Constantin in early 2000s. This modern mechanical timepiece collection was created to satisfy the tastes of new generation customers.
The finely balanced design of these timepieces ensured both immediate legibility and the instant identification of an uncompromising character. In addition to the superior technical performance, the Royal Eagle watches are aesthetically pleasing thanks to the “tonneau” shaped watch case and superior finishing.
Generously proportioned, smoothly streamlined and comfortably wrist-hugging, its potential has been explored and enhanced by generations of company stylists since the early years of the last century.
Royal Eagle designs come equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement reflecting the longstanding expertise of Vacheron Constantin’s master watchmakers The Royal Eagle symbol and corporate logo on the case back further attest to these watches’ provenance: the workshops of Geneva’s oldest full-fledged watch manufacturer, maker of outstanding wristwatches fully in tune with the 21st century.
This Vacheron Constantin watch collection was later on merged to the popular Malte family. Currently the manufacture is not producing Royal Eagle line of timepieces; however you may find these timepieces across various auctions and vintage stores.
In this page, you can explore two exceptional wrist watches from the Royal Eagle collection: first one is the Royal Eagle Chronograph with Large Date Calendar and the second model is the Royal Eagle Analogue Day and Date Calendar.
Vacheron Constantin Royal Eagle Chronograph with Large Date Calendar
The Royal Eagle chronograph is available in stainless steel or 18K pink gold version. Testifying to centuries of horological expertise, its Vacheron Constantin caliber 1137 self-winding mechanical movement features various auxiliary mechanisms, or “complications”, displayed on a dial face with a striking contemporary layout.
The chronograph mechanism includes a center seconds hand advancing in one-tenth-of-a-second increments along with 30-minute and 12-hour totalizers at 3 and at 9 o’clock respectively. The date is read in a pair of oversized calendar windows at 12 o’clock while the running seconds are shown in a sub-dial at 6 o’clock. The movement itself features decorative “Côtes de Genève” ribbing in the finest tradition of Genevan watchmaking.
A novel aspect of the Royal Eagle chronograph dial is the 30-minute and 12-hour totalizers’ tonneau shape, recalling that of the case and endowing the dial face with a trim, “technical” look that befits a first-class timing instrument. Hour markers and Arabic numerals in applied 18K gold – pink for the gold model and white for the steel-cased design – bring the charm of original 1920s-vintage Vacheron Constantin calligraphy to an already arresting dial face.
Sword blade-shaped hour and minute hands, overlaid with Superluminova® luminous compound on the steel version, add a further touch of originality to this impressive Royal Eagle design.
The steel version comes with a choice of silver-hued or slate-colored dial face. The discreet gleam of a silver-hued 18K gold dial contributes a unique touch to the pink gold version of the chronograph. The dial face itself bears an exclusive engine-turned pyramid-patterned texture that contrasts to superb effect with the subdials’ smooth sheen.
Water-resistant to 50 m (~ 165 feet), the case is fitted with a back plate secured by screws and a cambered, glare-proofed sapphire crystal. Typical bracelet horns, a crown bearing the corporate “Maltese cross” symbol and trapeze-shaped push-pieces complete the Royal Eagle chronograph’s unmistakable personality.
The design furthermore comes with a choice of steel bracelet with arched, smoothly articulated links or with a padded and hand-stitched strap in alligator mississipiensis leather with deployment clasp in matching steel or pink gold.
Technical details
Model: Vacheron Constantin Royal Eagle Chronograph with Large Date Calendar, Reference: 49145
Movement
Caliber V.C. 1137, self-winding mechanical; chronograph mechanism to 1/6th of a second and date calendar shown in twin oversized dial apertures
Movement thickness: 6.60 mm
Movement diameter: 25.60 mm (i.e. 11 1/2 lines)
Jewelling: 37
Rate frequency: 21,600 v.p.h.
Functions
Hours, minutes and seconds (running seconds at 6 o’clock)
Chronograph seconds hand at center, 30-minuteand 12-hour totalizers at 3 and at 9 o’clock respectively
Twin date calendar apertures at 12 o’clock
Dial
Silvered or slate-colored: applied hour markers and Arabic numerals in 18K white gold
Silvered: engine-turned (guilloché) by hand; applied hour markers and Arabic numerals in 18K pink gold
Case
Stainless steel or 18K pink gold; tonneau shaped
Water resistance: 50 m (~ 165 feet)
Bracelet
Stainless steel links, with fold-open clasp
Strap Ebony-hued, padded, hand-stitched, square-scale alligator mississipiensis leather with deployment clasp in steel or 18K pink gold
Vacheron Constantin Royal Eagle Analogue Day and Date Calendar
This Royal Eagle comes equipped with a self-winding V.C. caliber 1206 QSSL movement. Along with the hour and minute hands, it drives the running seconds hand on a sub-dial at 6 o’clock along with pointers showing the day of the week and the date on subdials positioned at 9 and at 3 o’clock on the dial.
Its dial face provides a telling demonstration of the quality of craftsmanship Vacheron Constantin specialists are capable of. The light silvered dial plate features applied hour markers and Arabic numerals in yellow or white 18K gold. The latter’s special calligraphy goes back to an original Vacheron Constantin model from the early years of the previous century.
Crisp, balanced design accounts for the dial’s exceptional legibility. The subdials for day, date and seconds, for example, feature contrasting, circular engine-turning. In Royal Eagle style, all hands and pointers save the seconds’ are sword blade-shaped and the hour and minutes’ are facetted and fashioned from white or yellow 18K gold.
Carefully designed to fit comfortably on the wrist, the tonneau-shaped case is water-resistant to 30 m (~ 100 feet). Available in white or yellow 18K gold, it features a back plate secured by screws and a glare-proofed, cambered sapphire crystal.
This accomplished Royal Eagle design comes with a cambered and saddle-stitched strap in alligator mississipiensis leather, in black with the white gold case and in brown for the yellow gold one, fitted with a standard buckle in matching gold.
Technical details
Model: Vacheron Constantin Royal Eagle Analogue Day and Date Calendar, Reference: 42008
Movement
Caliber V.C. 1206 QSSL, self-winding mechanical
Movement thickness: 4.57 mm
Movement diameter: 25.60 mm (i.e. 11 1/2 lines)
Jewelling: 31
Rate frequency: 28,800 v.p.h.
Functions
Hours, minutes and seconds (running seconds at 6 o’clock)
Date and day of the week shown on subdials at 3 and at 9 o’clock respectively
Dial
Silver-hued: applied hour markers and Arabic numerals in 18K white or yellow gold
Case
18K white or yellow gold; tonneau shaped
Water resistance: 30 m (~ 100 feet)
Strap
Black or brown padded and hand-stitched, alligator mississipiensis leather with standard buckle in 18K white or yellow gold
