Beautiful and rare watch bracelet on leather. Round case in 18 carat yellow gold. Clipped background. Black dial with radium applied index. Glaive needles with small second at six o'clock. Mechanical movement with manual reassembly, caliber RA 10''105.
The watch is sold with its archive extract.
In the 1930s, Vacheron Constantin turned to other industries in order to find other ways to varnish or paint the dial of his watches. E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company - later abbreviated in Dupont Company - was founded in 1802 by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours (1771-1834), Franco -American chemist and industrialist. His descendants constituted one of the richest families of the 19th century, with generations of influential businessmen, politicians and philanthropists. Initially manufacturing cannon powder, the company extended its activities, between 1902 and 1940, to chemical research. Some of their discoveries led to painting, especially for the automotive industry in the 1930s. This is how Vacheron Constantin and the Dupont company met. The DUPONT company of automotive lacquers is nicknamed Duco. These lacquers contain nitrocellulose which dries quickly and gives a lacquer-email finish. This is the reason why the watch manufacturer used Duco painting to cover some of its black dials, between the 1930s and 1950s, in order to obtain the most brilliant surface possible. These dials are extremely rare, especially with radium indexes.
