Inside Vacheron Constantin’s Plan-les-Ouates manufacture, watchmaking is neither wholly automated nor wholly hand-built: precision machinery and skilled craft work side by side. In a report published on 8 October 2026, Watch Advice’s Mario Canonizado describes a September visit that followed components from machining and finishing to movement assembly and Métiers d’Art. The account offers a look at the work visitors saw, not an independent audit of the Maison’s production or a guide to watches currently available to buy.
What happens inside the Vacheron Constantin manufacture?
The visitors’ account centres on a combination: CNC and spark-erosion machines produce components, while craftspeople inspect and finish parts in the same general production area. Canonizado describes this proximity as a feedback loop between machine production and human judgment. It does not mean every component or every watch follows an identical route; the report presents scenes from a visit, not a complete production map.
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That arrangement challenges the familiar image of luxury watchmaking as work done entirely by hand. Machines take on precise, repeatable operations; people contribute inspection, adjustment, finishing and specialised knowledge. The feature’s point is not that one method replaces the other, but that they work together.
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Making a metal hairspring
The report says Vacheron Constantin makes a metal-alloy hairspring in-house. Canonizado discusses this as an example of retained manufacturing knowledge, particularly in contrast with silicon, which the feature describes as an alternative material. This is an observation about the example presented during the visit, not a claim that every Vacheron Constantin watch uses an in-house metal hairspring.
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Setting jewels by hand
Visitors also saw a craftsperson set synthetic ruby jewels into a pallet fork while working under a microscope. The task illustrates a different kind of expertise: careful handwork and dexterity developed through practice. The feature places this work alongside machining rather than treating it as a relic of an older production era.
How does movement assembly fit into the process?
Canonizado reports seeing watchmakers assemble movements in a room designed to limit dust. The feature identifies Cal. 3200/1, Cal. 2160 and Cal. 1126 AT among the movements presented during the tour. They are examples shown in the report, not a statement of the Maison’s current retail lineup.
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Assembly is its own stage of expertise: components must be brought together into a functioning movement, with the care and concentration that the visitors’ account associates with the workshop. The report’s sequence—from component-making and finishing to assembly—shows why a manufacture visit can reveal more than machinery alone.
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Where does Métiers d’Art enter the picture?
The feature describes artistic disciplines carried out with traditional tools, including guillochage, enamelling, gem-setting and engraving. These practices sit alongside technical watchmaking, giving artisans a role in the visual character of a watch as well as its mechanical construction.
One example is the Tribute to the Animal Kingdom, which the report presents as involving collaboration with an artisan who had no prior formal connection to watchmaking. The feature also describes the Métiers d’Art Tribute to Great Explorers: Fernand de Magellan Expedition as a 60-piece edition. That quantity is reported by Watch Advice and should be understood as a detail in its 2026 account, not as an independently verified current product listing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How does the manufacture fit into the Maison’s history?
Vacheron Constantin dates its origins to 1755, when it says Jean-Marc Vacheron began his workshop, and describes its production as uninterrupted since then. Those are the Maison’s own historical claims. Its official history says the company moved into its Plan-les-Ouates manufacture on 9 August 2004; its timeline identifies architect Bernard Tschumi and describes management, administration and workshops being brought together under one roof. The brand says it inaugurated another production facility in Le Brassus in October 2013.
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- Metal Type: White Gold
- Imported
- Excellent condition - Minimal signs of wear consistent with pre-owned use. This item is pre-owned and may show light signs of wear. Please refer to the condition and photos. All of our products are authenticated and certified by our team of luxury experts.
- Wrist Size: 6.50"
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The visit report’s central idea—modern production alongside craft knowledge—also echoes a maxim attributed by the Maison to François Constantin on 5 July 1819: “Do better if possible, and that is always possible.” The English wording appears in the Watch Advice feature.
Read Mario Canonizado’s Watch Advice report. For the company’s own account of its history, see Manufacture since 1755, its manufacture page and its timeline. The Maison attributes the maxim on its official page.
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