THE JOURNAL
Video by Mr Jacopo Cinti
Mr Jean-Marc Vacheron founded his watch workshop in Geneva in 1755 and, ever since, watches bearing his name have been produced in that same city. (The businessman Mr Francois Constantin would not join the company until 1819, at which point it became Vacheron et Constantin). As such, Vacheron Constantin today can comfortably claim to be the oldest Swiss watchmaker in continuous operation.
Mr Brunello Cucinelli founded his eponymous brand in 1978, starting out with a small knitwear workshop in the Umbrian hamlet of Solomeo, his wife’s home village. Joining his son-in-law and co-CEO Mr Riccardo Stefanelli for a conversation of a summer’s morning, it’s immediately apparent that this is no ordinary chat between fashion moguls. For a start, we aren’t ensconced in a boardroom, or posed behind an artfully cluttered desk. We are at the Parco della Bellezza on the outskirts of the village, at the grandly titled “Monument To Human Dignity”, a classically styled exedra with five arches, built from travertine. It is one of the most recent additions to the Solomeo project, which has seen Cucinelli first restore, then add sympathetically to the 13th-century hamlet’s architecture.
Ostensibly, we are here to discuss the pair’s shared appreciation for Vacheron Constantin watches. As the two men talk, however, it is more of a meditation on time, legacy and heritage. Each man has worn a Vacheron for several years – Cucinelli was given his by his wife, a gift which started a life-long admiration of the brand.
“She knew that I loved very classic things, things of great quality and beauty that are also quite exclusive – things that could be worn and kept for many, many years,” he says. “And that's what I've been trying to bring into our brand, too. My coat from 25 years ago is still beautiful and modern, as is this wonderful watch, which for me, represents a small part of my life. It clearly represents the first great gift of my life as an adult.”
His watch is the 40mm Patrimony hand-wound in yellow gold, arguably the most refined – certainly the most pared-back – piece in the brand’s range. Slim, uncluttered and simply adorned with a black alligator leather strap, it’s a natural match for his understated yet impeccably composed style. Stefanelli favours a slightly more outgoing reference, the Patrimony Moon Phase Retrograde Date, in a 42.5mm rose gold case. “I like the elegance of Vacheron Constantin,” he says. “I like the attention to detail, the innovation to become ever more slender. And, above all, I like the fact they never compromise.”
Cucinelli is the closest thing the luxury world has to a philosopher – he dropped out of college to pursue his own agenda of philosophical reading and peppers his speech with bons mots from the likes of Confucius, Xenophon, and Emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. (Sample quote: “I think we need to go back to investing in beauty. In wondrous beauty, as when Emperor Hadrian said: ‘I feel responsible for the beauty of the world.’ Something that is beautiful, nice, cultivated, a beautiful thing, could probably last forever.”)
From a polished MBA graduate, it would seem nauseatingly pretentious. However, Cucinelli practises his gospel, giving millions to charity and investing heavily not only in the restoration of Solomeo, but in his own staff. He may only have been running his company for four decades, but sees it as his solemn responsibility to establish something that lasts – much like Vacheron Constantin. And looking out across the Umbrian countryside, it’s not hard to see how a man comes to be imbued with this purpose. As Stefanelli remarks in the video, the vista has hardly changed in 2,000 years. Heritage surrounds them, and while it would be easy to focus on the short-term (and phenomenal) success of their business, everything is done with thought to the future.
“This is a village from the 1300s, where I believe I am a custodian in transit, who only cares about embellishing it, preserving it, to donate it to those who come after us,” says Cucinelli. “I don't buy much in my life, but everything I buy I would like to be safeguarded for those coming after us. And so it is with the Vacheron Constantin watch, I’d like to be a pro tempore custodian. But then, if my grandkids were to wear it in 30 or 50 or 100 years, I’d be thrilled. I hope that my grandchildren can one day wear it, because I think we need to go back to being custodians of this wonderful humanity.”
This focus on the long term informed his original decision to focus on cashmere, a material that, if looked after, can be handed down for generations. The admiration for mechanical watches is sincere. When he talks about caring where something is made, how it is crafted and how exclusive it is – not as a measure of calculated supply-and-demand, but as an inherent consequence of its production. You wouldn’t bet against Brunello Cucinelli SpA still going strong in 250 years’ time. Although that coat is probably going to need a little careful maintenance here and there.