Some may wonder (like I did) about the reason for the skewed dial on this watch.
In the 1920s, cars had massive, non-adjustable steering wheels fixed relatively higher with the driver seating relatively lower than modern cars, for easy ingress and egress. The steering wheel was therefore generally held from the rear at the 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock positions, (unlike now, held from the top at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions).
In 1921, in response to a growing desire for a specially-designed wristwatch to still be legible even if the wearer had his arm angled to hold a steering wheel, Vacheron Constantin produced this design for the driver to read the time at a glance without having to twist his neck and take his eyes off the road for too long.
The dial face was shifted two indices (or 45 degrees) to the right, with the crown shifted up to the right corner, probably as a marker for the shifted 12 o’clock position. The sub-dial bearing the seconds pointer, however, continued to face North as in conventional watches, as it did not bear much importance other than to show the watch was functioning.
The watch had to be worn inward, in line with the palm of the hand for best results. Just 25 watches bearing this design were produced.
The Baltany S4046 pays homage to the Vacheron Constantin Historiques American 1921 launched in 2008, honouring its own history of the original watch design of the roaring 1920s in the USA.
Coming to this watch, Baltany offers good reproduction, elegant from every angle, with its high-polished case, pointers and indices, culminating with a superior quality leather belt bearing a signed, polished buckle. I would have very much liked to see the hours & minutes pointers exactly reproduced and a shorter offset for the seconds pointer in the sub-dial.
Although the case size is indicated at 38mm, it wears just right for my 7.25” wrist. The slim design enables it slip under a shirt’s cuff, comfortably.
The Seagull 1701 is reviewed as a very robust mechanical movement with good accuracy. Being one of my first watches with this movement, I still need to experience long-term ownership.
For its overall appearance, this watch is definitely in the top constellation of my homage watches.