Vacheron Constantin

Mercator

Folding Clasp

During the period spanning the mid-1980s to the early 2000s, the watch industry ehas to face many challenges with the quartz crisis which pushed them to reimagine themselves and move beyond their traditional history. 

Vacheron Constantin responded with the Mercator, launched in 1994 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Gerardus Mercator’s death. The unusual time-telling display was conceived to resemble a compass, and used a dual-retrograde handset. The design pays homage to the cartographer who created the Mercator projection, which became the standard 'world map' we now recognise.

The dial of the Mercator is made of engraved map lines, this one representing the **Americas**, each lines meticulously filled with glossy black enamel. A subtle yet meaningful detail can be found at the 4 o’clock position on the dial’s edge—a delicate lettering reading "J&L Genbrugge." This tribute honors the Belgian couple responsible for designing and crafting these watches.

With a 36mm yellow gold case, the Mercator features a stepped bezel complemented by robust, matching stepped lugs. The monochromatic palette of the case and dial allow the artistic map design to command full attention.

All Mercator examples utilized the same movement – the ultra-thin self-winding caliber 1120, originally based on a Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 920 ébauche – which was modified to incorporate a bi-retrograde mechanism for the hours and minutes.

This watch comes with its box, outer-box, original certificate of authenticity and manuals.

Champagne

Hours

Minutes

Discover our Vacheron Constantin Mercator 43050 Americas Box Papers available at our showroom in Geneva.

Automatic

Certificate of authenticity

Outer box

Leather

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Yellow Gold

All models

Mercator

Mercator

Vacheron Constantin