The other evening, we had the pleasure of putting together an informal, eminently enjoyable gathering in concert with the teams at Langton’s Fine Wines and Vacheron Constantin Australia – full of mechanical watch banter, charcuterie and delicious old-world vino.
As most watch enthusiasts are doubtless aware, VC – one of the oldest marques in Swiss watchmaking, continually operational for over 265 years – opened its Australian flagship only a couple of months back; and we were among the first to play around in the space and see, for clients and longstanding friends, what’s on offer.
A discreet and intimate pied-Ã -terre situated on 104 King Street, the client experience here preferences substance over spectacle: offering a multi-floor townhouse styled layout, through which lovers of high watchmaking can explore product; strap customisation (around the store’s multipurpose bar counter); and even partake in sit-down dinners on the top floor.
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Making good use of the boutique’s fully equipped kitchen, it was a fantastic experience getting to partner with Langton’s, whose remit – as you’d expect – involved supplying a range of wines made by critically acclaimed producers (on this occasion, all Old World) to everybody present.
For the tasting portion, we were fortunate enough to have Ned Goodwin MW on hand to walk guests through Langton’s curated selection of French and Italian producers. Notwithstanding the notable exception of some Tuscan Sangiovese, the majority of what was drunk highlighted the auctioneer’s specialty in sourcing wines of great character and near-investment quality from France’s viticultural epicentres – as you’ll see below:
- Château Carbonnieux Grand Cru 2019 ($185)
- Domaine Michelot 1er Cru, Meursault-Charmes 2017 ($220)
- Laurent Ponsot ‘En Ergot’ 1er Cru, Gevrey-Chambertin 2019 ($395)
- Giodo, Brunello di Montalcino 2017 ($599)
- E. Guigal ‘La Mouline’, Côte-Rôtie 2011 ($795)
Regardless of whether it was a funk-tastic white Bordeaux served in magnum (super underrated) or superlative Gevrey-Chambertin red crafted out of the fruit from a single parcel; the selection Goodwin and his team settled on offered the same craftsmanship and depth of enjoyment you’d expect from exceptional mechanical watchmaking.
To go with all of this liquid finery, Marty Frost, client manager for Vacheron Constantin Australia, selected a range of the brand’s essential timepieces for guests to peruse.
Taking into account the addition of certain watches off of the wrists of collectors themselves, we must have handled something in the realm of a dozen-plus watches. Serious stuff.
Naturally, every member of team BH gravitated toward a different piece in the line-up: Jack enjoyed the wearability and handsome retro-chic aesthetic of the 40mm Fiftysix in pink gold; the simple, refined look of the self-winding Patrimony (in blue) made a particularly strong impression on John; and I personally had a lot of time for the open-worked Traditionnelle tourbillon – an endgame-tier complication which, this year, benefited from the introduction of a retrograde date.
All in all, a very enjoyable and relaxed affair – and one which we think embodies the ethos of subtlety that’s so vital for longtime Vacheron fans.
