Preserving and promoting the work of time: a self-evident mission for the manufacture Vacheron Constantin

It is with continued pleasure and enthusiasm that Vacheron Constantin is participating for the fourth consecutive year in the European Artistic Crafts Days (JEMA) that will take place on April 4th to 6th 2014 in Paris, throughout France, as well as in London, Milan and Western Switzerland. This event has become an eagerly awaited must-see since it provides a broad public with an opportunity to discover the practitioners of age-old skills.

Which it sees as it is a means for the Manufacture to underscore the universal relevance of these sometimes little-known or neglected crafts and appreciate the emotional impact the crafts objects can produce.

Each year, various crafts and skills vanish into oblivion. Each year, rare crafts are orphaned because training schemes are abandoned. Knowledge, promotion and the transmission of such crafts are sadly lacking today. Keenly aware of this situation, the Manufacture Vacheron Constantin has undertaken to help make these artistic crafts better known and better understood, notably through exhibitions around the world. The Manufacture wishes to encourage training and the transmission of expertise, support excellence in craftsmanship, and highlight the Artistic Crafts by demonstrating the important role they play within contemporary design. This is one way of securing their future.

In an ever more fast-paced world, time has become exceptional and precious, and nowhere more so than in the creative realm. Time gives meaning, adds layers of mystery and inspires dreams. Who better than Vacheron Constantin could promote Artistic Crafts and encourage their encounter with contemporary art’ At the Palais de Tokyo in France, where Vacheron Constantin is also a patron of the “L’état du ciel” season, the Manufacture’s partnership with the National Institute of Artistic Crafts (INMA) is supporting the “Period Room” Exhibition, which vividly demonstrates how the Artistic Crafts are an integral part of contemporary creativity.

In London, the Manufacture has joined with Walpole, the UK’s benchmark organisation for furthering the interests of the British luxury industry, to support the exhibition project “Crafted: Makers of the Exceptional”. Focusing on the theme of excellence, it brings together works by young artistic craftspeople at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington Gardens.

Under the patronage of the city of Milan, Vacheron Constantin, in partnership with the Cologni Foundation for Artistic Crafts Professions, is sponsoring a number of ateliers that will open to the public. The highlight will be an exhibition that features photographs by Tiziana and Gianni Baldizonne, « Transmettre, Percorsi di Sapere », exploring the transmission of the know-how around the world, at the Pinacoteca di Brera.

Thanks to a partnership with the City of Geneva, the public will be able to view craft demonstrations in various cultural institutions in the Canton of Geneva, as well as the main exhibition held at the Maison Tavel. For the first time, Geneva’s neighbouring Canton of Vaud will be taking part in the JEMA and will open the doors to several artisans’ ateliers.