1959 Vacheron Constantin 4962 Ultra Thin 5mm Mens 32mm Gold Watch Cal 1003 Paper

Very rare ultra thin Vacheron wristwatch, with papers. This was the thinnest manual wind production watch in the world for nearly 70 years. Solid gold case.

Cal. 1003 was a ground breaking ultra thin high horology movement.

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Work on its development began in 1952 in L’Ile (the building on the Rhone River ‘island’ that has housed Vacheron Constantin’s historical premises since 1875) and it was presented for the brand bicentenary celebrations in 1955 under the name Calibre 1003.

Its 9-lignes or 21.05 mm diameter and 1.64 mm thickness have made it the world’s smallest mechanical manual-winding movement on the market. By way of comparison, this micromechanical masterpiece composed of 120 parts is about the size of a small Swiss 20-centime coin.

This now legendary calibre (of which the excellence was to be confirmed by the subsequent orders placed by other great names in fine watchmaking) was used to equip three round watches that set a new record as the world’s thinnest watches measuring just 4.54 mm thick

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Strap fits up to 7.5"

Originally retailed for 1865CHF, or about the same as the MSRP for a 1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville, or about half a single family home. Adjusted for inflation to 2022 USD, over 80,000$. (1865 CHF to USD at 1950s/1960s rates, 1 to 4.375, then adjusted by official CPI numbers)