If you’ve ever spent time around a proper car concours, you know it’s never about who spent the most money. The real conversations happen around originality, oddball details, and the stories that come with a historic example. That same energy is what makes Vacheron Constantin’s new Concours d’Élégance Horlogère so interesting. Dreamed up by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, the idea is simple but overdue: treat exceptional watches the way the world treats great cars. Not as commodities or trophies, but as artifacts shaped by time and the people who’ve lived with them. For collectors who own Vacheron Constantin pocket watches or wristwatches, it’s a chance to step out from behind the safe and into a wider conversation.
The event is open to Vacheron Constantin watches made between 1755 and 1999, which spans nearly the entire history of modern watchmaking. Registrations are open, with seven awards handed out later that year by a jury co-chaired by Aurel Bacs and Christian Selmoni. What’s refreshing is how the watches will be judged. Yes, authenticity and condition matter, but so do things like provenance, emotional pull, and the way a piece fits into the broader story of the brand and the craft. Categories range from chiming watches and chronographs to calendar complications, Chronomètre Royal pieces, métiers d’art, and design-driven models.
For anyone who loves old watches, the timing feels right. The market has matured, and many collectors are less interested in chasing the next headline result and more focused on authenticity. Most great watches weren’t meant to live untouched lives. They were worn, serviced, sometimes forgotten, then rediscovered. Those layers of history are exactly what this Concours seems to encourage. By borrowing the concours mindset and applying it to horology, Vacheron Constantin and Phillips are creating a space where stories matter as much as specifications. And for watch enthusiasts, that might be the best part of all.
