American 1921

Vacheron Constantin's American 1921 is a dress-watch family with its face set diagonally inside a rounded, almost square case. The hours, minute track and winding crown turn toward the upper-right corner. It changes the direction from which the time is read without changing the familiar work of two hands.

The arrangement comes from watches made for the American market in the early twentieth century. A 1921 example supplied the name and much of the appearance of the modern revival. The manufacturer's history dates that revival to 2008.

The modern watches use new mechanisms and larger cases, rather than reproducing every dimension of the old objects. The 40 mm pink-gold version gives the pale dial a broad setting. Smaller 36.5 mm versions draw the rounded corners closer together; white gold and platinum change the contrast between case and face.

The shape of the dial leaves an unusual patch of space around it. In the round watch, the case can follow the minute track at a nearly even distance. Here, the curved square reaches farther out at its corners, including the corner that carries the crown. Changing the case size changes those proportions while keeping the angled face.